Circle - Achimota Road Project Crawling

Some months after the government had cut the sod for the construction of the Circle-Nsawam road, Chronicle can reveal that the project is at a standstill. It was also gathered that the proposed site for the Achimota trotro station lies there with no construction works going on.

When this paper contacted the deputy director of the Department of Urban Roads in the Ministry of Roads and Transport, Mr. L.A Hesse, for his comments about the delay of the project, he claimed that construction on the road had long begun.

Work on the road was supposed to have begun January 13 this year. Although construction works have not yet been seen on the road, some unlawful structure owners along the road have started relocating their structures.

He added that the delay is partly as a result of the surveying of the area before construction works begin. "This, our surveyors are doing, and as soon as they are done, construction will begin." Mr. Hesse said he had no idea of the one responsible for the metallic fence that one sees along the Achimota-Nsawam road when he was asked about it.

However when an officer of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) was contacted, he said the fence was put along the road by one of the contractors; what for he could not tell the reporter but guessed it was part of the construction work.

The deputy said that stores and kiosk owners had been compensated to relocate their structures. T

he Department of Urban Roads helps in transporting their containers and structures to convenient places.

A petty trader, George, who sells along the road, confirmed this when this paper went to take a look around Achimota. 'Every one here has been compensated to relocate their stores but, since work has not yet started we are still here selling.

We will move when work begins' he said. Asked if all the buildings along the road are going to be demolished, Mr. Hesse responded in the negative, explaining that those to be collapsed are those marked with red paint and have GHA written on their walls.

He said petty traders and hawkers had not been compensated since their work entails roaming about selling their goods, "so the fact that we are moving people, their stores, and compensating them does not mean they should also be given money.

Why, do they own the land they are selling on which the road is going to be constructed on?" he asked. "I believe when we start with the construction work on the road they will move to another place."

Talking about the Achimota trotro station, he explained that as at the time of the interview (last week) construction was going on at the site released for the station at the old sand quarry near the Achimota Secondary School and as soon as the place was ready the station would be moved there.

However, when this paper visited the site no construction work was going on there. When this reporter spoke to one Mr. Kweku Ntiamoah of the Waste Management Services of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) at the site he said it was true that the Achimata trotro station was going to be moved there.

So far as you can see, no work is going on here. Asked what they were going to do if construction work began, he said they had been given a site at Taifa to move to.

Despite this, Mr. Hesse maintained that his department had not reached a stage where they would have to force people to move; rather when they get to the areas where there are unlawful structures hindering their work, they would force the owners to remove them or demolish them.

He, therefore, appealed to unlawful structure owners who have not yet moved to quickly relocate their property to protect them before the project gets into full gear.