Danger looms on Aburi Mountain road
Danger is looming on the curvy Aburi Mountain road where huge boulders are perching dangerously on one another and appear ready to fall from the cliff. The danger stretches from the Peduase Presidential Lodge right down to the Ayi Mensa toll booth.
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What even makes it more serious is the fact that some tourists and residents have turned part of the mountainous road into a keep fit route, trotting up and down to exercise their limbs and hearts. But as one of them said, “these boulders can cut short the life we are exercising to prolong”.
Presidents and government officials sometimes travel on the same dangerous road to the Peduase Presidential Lodge for official activities and only providence knows what would befall the nation if a boulder falls off during one of such trips on the road.
Recently, but for the timely intervention of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the ones that fell would have ended the lives of the road users.
Fortunately, it was only the road that was blocked for some period and motorists had to wait till the debris was cleared.
Daily bread
Despite the perilous nature of the mountain, some people have made the rocks their gold mining area where they win some of the rocks and sell to make a living.
NADMO
Head of Geological Disasters at NADMO, Mr Joseph Ankrah, conducted this reporter around the rocks and explained that the frail nature was natural and nothing could be done to cure it . He was, however, of the view that some remedial measures must be taken to ensure that the road was secured .
NADMO suggestion
He suggested that just as was done in most road constructions, the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) must create slopes and build stabilisations on the slopes. This, he explained, could be done with strong wires among other things, adding that:“the experts know better”.
Another recommendation he made was that those erecting mansions on the mountain must be stopped and efforts made to reclaim the lost vegetative cover to prevent water sipping through to lubricate the rocks.
For those removing portions of the rocks to sell to make a living, he requested that the district assemblies and other stakeholders find an alternative livelihood for them.
Government intervention
At his turn at the Meet-the-Press series, the Minister of Roads and Highways¸ Alhaji Amidu Sulemani, said the government was aware of the problem. He said the first contractor detailed to work on the problem gave an estimate of GH¢4 million.
He said the government was trying to get more consultants to come out with how to secure the area as a means of getting value for money. He did not give a specific date when the problem would be solved.
Types of rock
The area is part of the Akuapim Fault. Its name suggests the nature of the rocks. It is made up of weak sedimentary rocks that have undergone series of alterations in millions of years.
The fault zone is a natural occurrence which has already caused the rock to break into slides and pieces over the years but is held together by the vegetative cover and the natural compact nature of the rocks. Naturally, the rock is not compact like other rocks.
Sedimentary rocks are rocks that are formed by the deposition of material on the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles (detritus) to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution.
Particles that form a sedimentary rock by accumulation are called sediment.
Causes
The Aburi mountain formation was first disturbed by the construction of the road and this was magnified later by the reconstruction and expansion of the road about seven years ago.
This had also been compounded by other human activities such as construction of buildings on top of the mountain and the clearing of the vegetative cover for agricultural purposes, and for the winning of sand and stones.
During these construction periods, there were series of blasting of the rocks that also troubled the original formation of the land and multiplied and widened the natural cracks within the weak rocks.
The vulnerability of the mountain had also been aggravated by activities which allowed water to sip through the mountain, acting as lubricants for the layers to slide gradually.
Minute vibration, occasioned by vehicles passing through the area on a daily basis, had also taken its toll on the rocks because they vibrated the already stratified rocks.
Drivers
Speaking to this reporter, Kwesi Obeng , a minibus driver who has been plying the Aburi and the Adenta portions of the road for the past 13 years, said drivers breathed a sigh of relief when contractors started working on the road but their reprieve was short lived because after the expansion, the rocks started falling.
Mr Felix Bentum, who travels from Aburi to Accra each working day, said “I don’t want the President to die, but I wish by accident the rocks will fall during one of his trips down the mountain; after that close shave with death, we will see action”.