Afenyo-Markin apologises over wrong photo use

Member of Parliament for the Effutu Constituency and Deputy Majority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin,  has rendered a public apology over what he described as  the use of a wrong photograph to illustrate a point he made in relation to sand winning activities in Keta, Volta Region.

“I sincerely apologise for relying on this [picture]…I render an unqualified apology. We reasonably relied on this picture in an article, the source has since pulled down and I apologise and it was not intended to mislead, if it was so, we wouldn’t have handed over all the documents,” Afenyo-Markin told Joy News TV Monday night.

The MP, last week had explained that one of the several factors behind the periodic tidal waves that sweeps through Keta and its environs is the activities of persons involved in illegal sand winning.

Though the statement is factual, Afenyo-Markin received some public bashing after it turned out that a printed photograph he provided to buttress his point was actually not one from Keta but rather somewhere else outside Ghana.

The MP, though he explained that he took the photograph from a credible news website that had captioned it as though the photo was showing sand winning activities in Kata, still came under intense verbal attacks for not cross checking and double checking the authenticity of the photograph before he used it as a reference.

He has since done the needful by rendering an apology for the wrongful use of the said photograph.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye has expressed  a similar concern over the challenge of sand winning in Keta and its environs and its impact on the shorelines.

“While Government makes all the necessary efforts to avert these unfortunate perennial occurrences, I wish to appeal to our coastal residents to avoid any practices that exposes them to vagaries of the rising sea levels. There have been reported cases of sand winning, uprooting of mangrove along the coastal stretch etc. the investments by government cannot yield the needed protection if people continue to engage in such practices”, Francis Asenso-Boakye noted.

He explained that Government has not slept over the challenge but was working to get a permanent solution.

Mr. Asenso-Boakye disclosed that : “the Ministry of Works and Housing (Government) notes the sense of urgency for undertaking the second phase of the project to protect Adina, Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu communities and others to the east of Blekusu. To this end, the Ministry is commenced urgent steps to implement the second phase of the project. The Ministry has finalized the Evaluation of the relevant proposal to start the works under the second phase of the project.”

He continued: “It is important to note that in April 2021, a technical team from the Hydrological Services Department of the Ministry, upon my directive, travelled to the affected communities to engage the Municipal Chief Executive of Ketu South Municipal Assembly and some community leaders on the matter of the implementation of the second phase of the project.

“I have also had the opportunity to visit these communities, together with the technical team from the Ministry and the Hydrological Services Department, in June this year, to have a first-hand understanding of the situation. It is envisaged that the completion of the works envisaged under the second phase of the project will cover a minimum coastal stretch of 8,000 metres (8 kilometres) and this will surely ensure the total protection of the people of Agavedzi, Salakope, and Amutsinu communities and other affected communities within the Constituency that continue to bear the brunt of this occasional disasters. The scope of works under the second phrase of Blekusu Coastal Protection Project (Phase 2) entails the construction of 37 armour rock groynes, with land reclamation, to protect eight (8) kilometres of coastal stretch.

“The Ministry is currently engaging the Ministry of Finance to raise the needed funding for the implementation of the second phase. It is important to note that value addition is critical in ensuring that a platform for recouping the capital investment is provided. Thus, in addition to protecting lives and properties, the works under the Blekusu Coastal Protection Project (Phase 2) will protect the beaches and its environs against encroachment by the sea, arrest the current environmental deterioration, mitigate the social and economic consequences of beach erosion, and strengthen the economic and production base of the area through enhanced fishing activities.”