Residents of East Cantonments live in fear over abandoned collapsed storey building

Parts of a multi-storey building under construction at East Cantonments in Accra has collapsed, leaving residents in fear, as well as damaging other adjourning buildings.

This, according to a resident who has spoken to GhanaWeb on condition of anonymity, happened on Friday, February 10, 2023, close to the famous Soul Clinic School in Accra.

The resident explained further that while the situation has been reported to the police, the area was left without electricity power supply for days due to the incident.

“To make matters worse, power supply to a number of these households was cut off for the rest of the weekend. This was been reported to the Cantonments Police immediately by an affected resident, after which a CID Officer was detailed to conduct an initial inspection,” he said.

The resident also indicated that the owner of the said building is yet to be identified although there are other claims that the unidentified owner, out of shock from what had happened, had been admitted at an unknown hospital.

He added that all they also know so far is that a woman, claiming to be the wife of the owner of the building, has visited some of the affected neighbours to sympathise with them.

“The owner of the property has still not been seen though a woman who claimed to be the wife of the owner indicated she's been to neighbours to share in their pain.

“No effort has been made to restore power supply," he added.

The source added that one of the residents, who had been the most affected by this incident, was compelled to go to the Accra Central ECG Office before power was restored to the area at about 4pm on Monday, February 13, 2023.

“The La Dade Kotopon District Assembly Office was also informed and they expeditiously came to the scene but neither the owner nor the contractor could be traced,” he added.

The source continued that neighbours in the community have since bemoaned how unconcerned the Cantonments Police CID have behaved over the matter.

“It is important to note that until the collapse of the building, a report had been made to the Cantonments Police on Friday, January 13, 2023, in respect of the looming danger and the effects the construction works was already having on neighboring households, including dust and cracks to walls. A patrol team was detailed to check work on the site and advise accordingly. Sadly, work still continued nonetheless,” he added.

Meanwhile, many of the residents fear that the collapsed structure, which still hangs loosely and towering over nearby buildings, could give way anytime and cause an even bigger devastation.

Residents are therefore calling on the authorities under whose purview such constructions are permitted, to help locate the owner of the building to ensure that debris clearing is done and the safety of people is guaranteed.

The residents are also calling for the demolition of the remnants of the structure as a matter of urgency in order to avert any catastrophe.



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