Residents of Adjiringanor in the Adentan Municipality, are fuming following the construction of a wall on the only open drain cutting through the community.
Presiding Member of the Adentan Municipal Assemblyman, Joseph Odai Boye, said efforts by the Adentan Municipal Assembly to stop the developer have proved futile.
An amateur video obtained by 3news.com shows the devastating impact anytime there is flooding in the area. Homes are washed away and sometimes people lose their lives as a result of the flooding.
A drain that has existed in the area for well over 20 years is about 23m wide and 5m deep right in the middle of the community but cannot contain the volume of water anytime there is downpour.
This is because the developer has constructed a fence wall right across the open drain. Again in an attempt to construct a bridge over the drain, the developer has ended up creating a small channel under the bridge which ultimately cannot contain the flood water.
The attention of the Adentan Municipal Assembly, AdMA was drawn to the project and the inscriptions of stop work signs are visible but the developer has heeded to none of that.
One resident by name Cassandra said they are helpless. “We are helpless, we want the MCE to pay attention to this development. We have resisted this man for a long time and to the extent that sometimes he threatens us for opposing his project”. This is my house just close to the wall and I can assure you anytime there is heavy rain the water gets to half of my wall all because of what the man is doing here”.
Another resident, Martin Dzameshie said “To be frank we are angry with the Adentan Assembly for watching on while this impunity goes on. Look, we have demolished this project several times but he comes back to continue. He wants to claim the small land close to the gutter which is unacceptable. He must be stopped.
Apart from the visible sign of “stop work. Demolish wall” written by the assembly to the developer, the residents feel the assembly is not being proactive. Residents directed us to the house of the Presiding Member Joseph Odai Boye whom they say has been fighting the developer countless times.
When contacted, Joseph Boye said the Adentan Assembly has always acted in the interest of the residents and have directed the man to stop work but he has refused. He has even threatened court action against the assembly. “There are plans by the engineers and hydro to widen this drain. We are not against a private developer helping to develop the community but the right thing must be done and the right procedure adopted. We have reached a point where the assembly cannot wait but to sue this developer”. He stressed.
At the time of our visit the developer was not on site and so could not be contacted for his side of the story.
By Richard Bright Addo|3news.com|Ghana