Public appeals for the demolition of the defunct Meridian Hotel, situated at the Tema Meridian enclave, has intensified ahead of this year’s incessant June and July rains.

The edifice, established by Ghana’s first President Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah as one of the most sought-after Hotels at the time, now stood obsolete since the 1990s and is nearing collapse.

With its current state of decay revealing the steel casings, while the iron rods of the building pierced through its skeleton pillars posing as a death trap.

A visit by the GNA revealed the crumbling state of the weak meridian building foundation, which could no longer hold and facilitate the safe transfer of weight of the sagging structure to the ground, while also being peppered with exposed life-threatening iron rods that had become a gauntlet ready to swallow its first victim.

The ramshackle, which has been left to rot, and timed to cause as much carnage as possible has generated spiraling menaces in the area, including; the continuous thunderous fall of huge cemented logs that threatened to injure commuters close at the edifice

According to some Tema residents the structure apart from its status, was the hideout for hardened criminals and a spot, where people dumped refuse, for which reasons security guards had been contracted to man the dilapidated ramshackle regardless of the danger it possesses to them.

The guards told the GNA that they remained stationary at portions where the pillars were strong with minimal or non-existing falling logs, adding they do not extend extensive patrols to sides of the building that could collapse at the least provocation.

A 51-year-old security guard at one of the banking institutes close to the defunct hotel recounted an unpleasant experience he had with one of the recalcitrant criminals who often hid at the underground of the building to hunt unsuspecting prey.

He urged authorities to adopt a proactive approach by pulling down the structure instead of waiting to react to a disaster that may be fatal.

Another security guard manning one of the many office complexes within the enclave also echoed, “We fear that, when it rains, the building will collapse.

“We stopped seeking shelter in the edifice because of the many huge broken logs you will find falling from the structure”.

He said this while expressing sadness as to why the “once pride of Tema” had been neglected to face its pitiable fate.