Four companies have expressed interest to execute the Ada Sea Defence project. The Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Alhaji Saddique Abubakar Boniface who announced this to journalists during a tour of the Ada coastal beIt to acquaint himself with the extent of sea erosion in the area, also said the government was determined to solve the sea erosion problem in the Ada area. The minister was accompanied by the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Dangme East, Mr Israel Narh Baako, MP for Ada, Mr Alex Tettey Enyo and the MP for Sege, Mr Alfred Abayateye. He also paid a courtesy call on Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku III, the Paramount Chief of the Ada Traditional Area. He named the four companies that had shown interest in the project as Besix S.A. from the Netherlands/Belgium, Sotra Limited from Great Britain, Dredging International from Belgium and DHV/DMMI from the Netherlands. Alhaji Boniface said an assessment study carried out on the project to serve as a basis for sourcing funding for the project had been submitted to his ministry for review. He said the government would also liaise with donor agencies, including the World Bank and European Union, for funding. Alhaji Boniface added that the Royal Netherlands Embassy had also been approached for assistance to carry out feasibility studies on the project in an attempt to finding a lasting solution to the Ada sea erosion problem. Alhaji Boniface said the proposed solution to the problem was short-term and involved beach nourishment, which was to be repeated every five years at a cost of approximately 10 million euros and indicated that a repetitive nourishment was "technically not feasible and economically not a viable option". The minister said the preferred intervention to offer a long term solution to the sea erosion problem covered a coastal stretch of 14 kilometres from Azizanya (east of Ada) to Totrokpe (west of Ada). That, he said involved the construction of groyne fields of over 10 kilometres, revetment structure of four kilometres and a groyne at the estuary of the Volta River to facilitate a permanent opening at the mouth of the Volta River. He said the estimated cost of the project was 40 million euros and the value of properties under threat was estimated at 154 million euros. Alhaji Boniface said the overall policy of his ministry towards the coastal defence system was a sustainable integrated management system, which ensures value addition to the coastal protection projects. Source: Daily Graphic