The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has ordered tenants of a four-storey building on the verge of collapse at Osu Alata to vacate the place.
The building is said to be on the verge of collapse and unsafe for occupancy.
There have been a number of building collapses lately – the most recent one claimed the life of the former Vice President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Prosper Adabla.
He and two others died in July 2015 after a new office complex he was putting up at Cantonments, collapsed on them.
The Assembly Member for Osu-Alata, Hubert Kpakpo Gershon fears the incident might repeat itself if the tenants of the building are not forced out.
He said the structural integrity of the building only puts the lives of the tenants at risk.
“We have even wasted time, I don’t think they should be given a deadline…I mean you cannot live in this building. They should be forced out as soon as possible,” he stated.
Meanwhile, an Engineer with the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Felix Tettey says they are only awaiting orders from the appropriate quarters to demolish the structure.
According to him, a structural audit within the Accra Metropolis early 2015 identified about 44 buildings which are on the verge of collapse.
The four-storey which is opposite the premises of Radio XYZ in Accra, happens to be one of the 44 identified.
Although they confessed to the collapsing state of the building, the tenants of the building demanded compensation before they will vacate the place
“If they want us to vacate, they should give us some money because the landlord claims he does not have money and we have nowhere to go,” one tenant told Joy News.
“I have been here almost two years now. Some parts of the building have been falling – and it scares us but we are still here because there is nowhere else to go. There is no money,” another added.
Source-myjoyonline.com
