Sand Winning & Property Damage in Elmina

The beach in Elmina

You don’t often think about sand as being a commodity worth stealing, however sand winning is a growing problem along the beaches of Ghana. Enterprising individuals are collecting sand to sell or to make into cement blocks. The impact of this activity is very pronounced on some of the beaches I have visited in Ghana. Some beaches are worse than others while some, particularly Bojo beach (which is inaccessible without taking a canoe from the coast), are pristine. A quick internet search provided several newspaper stories of reporters investigating situations of sand winning going unstopped by law enforcement and also by local communities who self-regulate many other economic activities like fishing. From my research and from talking to a hotel owner currently dealing with this problem, it seems the responsibility for stopping this activity lies with traditional leaders and also with individual property owners. A case study in Odumasi indicated that this formerly productive area of farm land is barren and can no longer be used for agriculture because much of the top soil has been ‘won’ or removed. The reporter visited the area and witnessed a truck being filled in the presence of a community leader which indicates that the leader was aware of their activities despite his insistence to the contrary. Similarly in James Town in Accra, fishermen went about their daily activities ignoring individuals removing sand from the beach or bringing supplies to the beach to make cement blocks with the sand.

The hotel is taking steps to protect their property
 however it is unlikely to resolve the issue

The restaurant building at the hotel in danger of being
damaged from the erosion

I stayed at a hotel in Elmina over the holidays and the erosion from the sand winning that continues on this beach was extreme. The hotel is no doubt going to lose their restaurant as the foundation is being eroded due to the lack of beach sand protecting it. They were busy constructing some barriers however their efforts are going to be in vain.  I have never before seen a beach with such a significant lack of slope. It was very obvious where the dump trucks had been backed up to collect sand. The hotel said they had been battling with local government officials to take action against the sand winners because of the property damage it was causing and also the environmental costs of destroying the shoreline. Sand winning contributes to coastal erosion. It took three years to get government to take their concerns seriously and even after they had blocked the paths the dump trucks had taken, the trucks had simply gone around the barriers to reach the beach. The hotel is new and is still under construction however the damage to the beach will severely impact their property. They are quite limited in their options to remedy the situation. Short of having armed guards patrolling the beach and running the risk of the sand winners bribing the guards, not much can be done. 

You can see the efforts of the hotel to try to protect their property. Hi Mom!

Illegal ‘entrepreneurs’ is a very common problem in Ghana which I have previously written about in the case of illegal miners. People are willing to take drastic and even deadly measures to keep people off their land. This response is hardly unusual and sadly, government seems to lack the capacity and will to take action against illegal entrepreneurs. On the other hand, it seems grossly unjust to prohibit people from earning an income (albeit illegally), when there are no other jobs available in the area. There seems to be a lack of education about protecting the environment and indeed alternative materials in construction. Poverty plays a major role in encouraging people to engage in illegal activities because there are few alternative employment opportunities. Perhaps if there was increased investment in creating jobs for people they would be less inclined to engage in illegal enterprises.