DANGER ON MAMPONG SCARP!!

Motorists and travelers plying the Scarp located between Jamasi and Ninting in the Ashanti region popularly known as the Mampong Scarp, are faced with danger, as portions of the scarp have been experiencing the occasional falling of rocks or topsoil of the hill onto the base of the highland sometimes directly on to the single-lane road. 

A close monitoring and observation of the situation by Ashanti Today has revealed that the phenomenon is very common during the rainy season with minor incidences of the falling of the rocks during the dry season. 

Drivers have appealed to the Ghana Highways Authority to act swiftly to avert any catastrophe. A commercial truck driver, Abdulai Sadick said "Sometimes the rocks fall to the ground. Even when I was coming, I observe that some of the rocks had fallen along the road. It scares us. Sometimes you just come to face the situation. It can cause and accident. The authorities should attend to the situation immediately." 

"I have observed that rocks and soil on one side of the scarp are still falling. I think it mostly occurs when it rains. With the least freight, a driver could get into an accident", Paul Amoako, driver of an SIC pick up cautioned. 

A Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Dr. Aboagye DaCosta, who is an expert in Applied Geomorphology and Environmental Geography,  described the phenomenon as 'mass wasting' or 'mass movement' . Dr. DaCosta explained that the occasional falling of rocks or topsoil of the Mampong Scarp onto the base of the highland is triggered by many factors with rainfall, human and biological activities being the major causes. 

"Rainfall has three main effects on hill slopes. Rainfall tends to lubricate the surface. When  the surface is lubricated, it tends to move faster. Rainfall also reduces the internal strength of the material by increasing the weight. When it rains, the rainfall increases the weight of the objects on the slope because the rocks absorb water and makes it easier for them to fall", he stressed. 

On the way forward, the Geography Lecturer recommended the covering of the stretch of the scarp experiencing the phenomenon with wire mesh or the construction of concrete retaining wall at the base of rocky hill along the road behind which the rocks would fall without causing danger to users of the road. 

When contacted, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Ghana Highways Authority, Ingineer Christian Nti said as a short term safety measure, people from Jamasi and Ninting which are the nearby communities, must stop undertaking any economic activity including farming and lumbering within the scarp since their activities are contributing to the problem. "That Mampong scarp the farming activities can cause damage to the whole road, can cut off the road and therefore, we are pleading with them not to work within the area", the Regional Highways Director warned.

He said community awareness creation outreach would be organized in the concerned towns to enable the people to better appreciate the impact of their activities on the road and safety of the users.