Tenants displaced by Asokwa by-pass calls for compensation

Kumasi, Oct. 11, GNA - Residents at Anloga, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, who have been affected by the Oforikrom-Asokwa by-pass project, had appealed to the government to assist them with financial support to resettle.

Mr Gideon Nyamasen Appiah, Spokesperson for the affected tenants said: "We do not want to be a stumbling block to the execution of the project because we all love to see it materialise to ease traffic congestion in the Kumasi metropolis.

Mr Appiah who was addressing a press conference in Kumasi however said the project should not be undertaken to the detriment of the welfare of the very people on whose behalf the project is being executed.

He noted that from the on set of the project, the displaced persons were informed that three different forms of compensation would be paid by the government to them To this end, officials from the Urban Roads Department were on site to take measurement of houses to be affected by the project to facilitate payment of the compensation. Mr Appiah said on Tuesday, September 21 the tenants were shocked when the Urban Road Department handed over cheques to landlords living them out.

"When asked about the fate of the tenants, the officials told us that the government has nothing to do with them and that it is only landlords who were to be compensated." Mr Appiah said the decision was not only sad but also against the right of the tenants, saying appeal to the Regional Co-ordinating Council to rectify the anomaly had fallen on deaf ears. He said about 1,440 tenants had been affected and are looking up to government to support them to resettle.