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More than 200 houses and structures along the Teshie Nungua-Manet Road that joins the Spintex Road in Accra were  pulled down yesterday to pave the way for the construction of a dual carriage road.

The exercise was aimed at decongesting the area of structures close to the road to open up the area for the construction of a  7.5 km asphalt road from the Teshie Police Station to the Manet Junction.

The demolition started early yesterday morning and will be completed on Friday, January 30, 2015 for Malin Construction from China to commence work on the road.

There was a heavy presence of armed policemen in the area to ensure law and order.

When the Daily Graphic visited the area at 12 noon yesterday, scores of residents were seen desperately lifting their containers and kiosks to safety to prevent them from being destroyed.

Those who failed to remove their illegal structures to safety on time saw them being destroyed by two backhole machines; a scene that prompted some of the people to hurl insults and curses at the officials of the Ledzokuku-Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA).

Compensation
However, many of the affected residents, who spoke to the Daily Graphic, did not blame the assembly for initiating the exercise , and said they had been duly compensated and notified of the exercise since 2007.

They, however, were displeased that the assembly failed to tell them the specific day it intended to carry out the exercise.

A resident, Mrs Mary Agyare, told the Daily Graphic that she was paid GHC8,100 as compensation for her drinking spot that was located close to the road.

“I will refrain from blaming the assembly for destroying structures because we were informed of the exercise as far back as 2007,” she stated.

Demolition justified
When contacted, the Municipal Works Engineer of LEKMA, Dr Stephen Nkatia, said the assembly  warned the residents of the impending exercise six months ago for work to begin on the construction of the road.

He stated that the Department of Urban Roads identified 45 legal buildings whose owners were compensated with various sums of money totalling GH890, 000, which was released in three tranches in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

“With compensation duly paid, we now have the go ahead to demolish every abandoned house and illegal structures whose owners refused to relocate,” he stated.