Welcome to Bortianor in the Ga South municipality of Ghana's capital city, Accra - and if you have never been here before, you may as well double up, because a day comes in the foreseeable future when this famous community – a microcosm of everything Ghanaian – will cease to exist. Welcome to Bortianor in the Ga South municipality of Ghana's capital city, Accra.
The neighbourhood has been reduced to the status of a gully town as a result of its poor and hazardous roads, persistent flooding that is made worse by insufficient drains, and structures that have been thrown just about wherever, including on waterways, dumpsites, hilltops, and valleys.
Everywhere one looks, the potential for anarchy to break out is extremely real. Structures are in a precarious position and are on the point of collapsing, yet their owners are powerless to save them. They are not even close to being prepared for the impending tragedy.
In this highly inhabited town, one that is located in the Ngleshie-Amanfro constituency – a hub for political activity during election years – the floods have carved gullies and ditches nearly under every building. This has left these concrete structures precariously stilting about in various locations around the community.
Some people even believe that the seat is a swing one, despite the fact that the nation's two main parties, the NDC and the NPP, have both been given permission to fly their flags in this area.
David Andoh, an expert photojournalist, was prompted to investigate the situation after viewing a recent video that showed people of Bortianor (Adansiman) accessing their homes by falling down and climbing up lengthy ladders that sit in a gully that is deep enough to qualify as a storm drain. This prompted Andoh to begin his investigation.
And what he found – as told by the images he brought back with him – alludes to the fact that Bortianor is not only losing its sheen, but also its spirit in addition to its lustre.
According to reports from locals, a number of schoolchildren were among those who perished in the flash floods that followed the heavy rains. Walls in the Red Top-Abuom and Aplaku areas have been undermined, roadways have been eaten away, and the foundations of houses have been exposed.
The neighbourhood is riddled with unstable planks that connect to stores where one may purchase necessities. These planks also have the potential to cave in under high weights. However, the entire situation is unattractive and unhealthy, and as a direct consequence of these two factors, many property owners have given up on their investments.
Bortianor is the same community as the well-known West Hills Mall, the manufacturing group Zonda International, and the Finny Fertility Hospital, all of which can be found in this neighbourhood. The destruction caused by climate change will not, however, have any impact on the locations of these firms.
The placid atmosphere and the abundance of lush vegetation are typically major selling points for potential residents of the middle and higher classes, making it a highly desirable location. The undulating topography contributes its own unique attractiveness to the landscape.
However, that attractiveness is beginning to fade away. Some homes are being completely severed from their nearby environs.
What was once a stately three-story edifice in the suburb of Baba Dogo is now a haunted house, and it is emblematic of the deterioration that years of unplanned expansion have wrought in Accra's backyard.
It is impossible to continue with haphazard development rather than development that is planned, organised, and supervised because the entire Bortianor enclave is located within the earthquake zone of Accra.
Some of the locals have stated that their requests for the government to assist them have gone unanswered, and as a consequence, the local schoolchildren are forced to navigate their way to and from school using various obstacles, such as roads, boards, and hanging constructions, from Monday through Friday.
The tales are so reminiscent of others that they virtually become a chorus. Kobina Mensah Odoom laments the closure of a road in front of his home, which used to be accessible to both commercial and private traffic but is now inaccessible to either group.
Many are permanent residents who are required to park their vehicles in inconvenient locations on a regular basis and then walk the remaining distance to and from their homes.
Every rainstorm makes the situation even more dire. And throughout the course of the last few months, there has been tremendous rainfall, which has also led to heavy damage.
Amelia, the proprietor of the Insha Allah Food Joint located at the Broadcasting Alhaji Junction, mentioned that her customers take significant risks in order to eat at her establishment. As a result, the customers are sometimes dissuaded from coming, particularly when it is raining.
Richard Bulley, who lives in a severely damaged home in the vicinity of the Old Bortianor-Kokrobite road in Aplaku, is dissatisfied with the manner in which city authorities have responded to appeals for assistance.
He stated that they attempted to erect a wall around the house in order to salvage the situation; nevertheless, the volume of water that runs through the location damaged the initial work that was done.
A welder at Red Top JB named Kwadwo Okordieh voiced his concern about the rapid rate at which erosion is putting him out of business. As a consequence of the deep gullies, the road in front of his workshop that leads to J.B. Last Stop has been closed, and as a result, no one can see his handiwork any longer.
Akwasi Agyapong, a resident of Broadcasting who lives close to the Light House Church, related the story of how rushing water from a deep gully caused the collapse of the fence wall of another homeowner, resulting in the death of one individual.
A resident of Red Top named Bismarck Gyan said that he invested significant sums of money to purchase gravels and cement in order to repair a damaged road that was located near his home; however, the swiftly moving water that came from the gullies wiped away everything that he had invested.
Mr. Gyan claims that officials from the Ga South Municipal Assembly have been making trips to the village, but that such visits have not resulted in anything productive.
In an interview, Mr. Joseph Nyarni Stephen, the Chief Executive of the Ga South Municipality, stated that he led a team of Urban Roads Engineers to the community to examine the situation in order to provide the assembly with the ability to identify solutions to the difficulties. This information was provided to the interviewer.
He pleaded with the locals to have patience and stated that the assembly will begin working in the neighbourhood over the next few weeks to ensure that the issues would be rectified.
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