Chinese company blocks road in Kumasi

Kumasi, Aug 21, GNA - Management of Rosamond Memorial Hostel in Kumasi has called on the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) to pressurise the Chinese company building the Youth Sports Complex to re-open the only access road to the hostel.

The management said the blockage had led to many students and other users to refuse patronizing the hostel and the hostel risked losing about GH=A220,000 (200 million cedis) a year.

In a petition to the Metropolitan Chief Executive Nana Kwame Asante Frempong and Mr Seth Okrah, both directors of the hostel, said as a new facility, they had to do a lot of publicity with the hope of attracting more students.

But following the blockage, the hostel could no longer be reached by the most direct and advertised route but by a detour that is dusty. They said the blockage of the road by the contractor, Messrs Jiangsu Jiangdu Construction, to build living quarters and other structures for their materials was a breach of public regulations.

The directors said the action of the contractor was a violation of their fundamental human rights and they did not consider it proper for the KMA to encourage any individual or corporate body to trample on the right of an indigenous Ghanaian business establishment.

"It is our considered view that the blockage, if allowed to stand, will give a bad image to the KMA for supporting wrong doing and thereby setting a bad precedence for others to emulate."

Nana Asante Frempong, who is also the Managing Director of Wonoo Ventures and former Member of Parliament for Kwabre, said the KMA had not even acknowledged letters written to the assembly since April. He said they responded to the call on the private sector by KNUST to assist the university to expand its intake by investing in hostels. They inaugurated the 25-bedroom hostel at a cost of 2.5 billion cedis meant for 100 students in September last year and it is located a few meters away from the KNUST gate but there are only two female students in the hostel now.

Nana Asante Frimpong said when the contractor was contacted about the blockage they said they did it on the authority of KMA. When the KMA was contacted, Mr Charles Ampoma-Mensah, the City Engineer, said the project was a National Youth Council project which would be completed in March next year and that the structures were supposed to be temporary.

He said the assembly was aware of the problem and that efforts were being made to get the best options so that the fence could be removed for traffic while the contractor also proceeded with his work.