The owner of a building sited on a waterway at Nsakina in the Ga West Municipality in Accra is expected to appear before court today, Tuesday, September 7, 2021, after seven persons contracted to put up the structure were arrested by a joint team from the Amasaman Police Command and the Ga West Municipal Assembly taskforce.
According to the Municipal Chief Executive for the Assembly, Clement Wilkinson, the owner of the property will represent the arrested workers in court.
The arrest occurred on Monday, September 6, 2021, during an exercise to demolish properties on waterways in the municipality.
In an interview with Citi News, Mr. Wilkinson said legal action against the perpetrators is needed.
“There is nothing we can do other than to take them to court. So we will take them to the District Court in Amasaman around 9 am on Tuesday.”
“The owners of the property are currently in police custody, and they will be taken to court. The contractor, however, will not be taken to court.”
The demolishing of structures on waterways has consistently been proffered as a solution to flooding in residential areas.
This forms part of measures by the Greater Accra Regional Ministry to sanitise the capital city.
The Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) has made similar moves in the past.
The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in 2018 sought legal backing to demolish structures on waterways.
It drafted a Legislative Instrument to be sent to Parliament to receive the necessary endorsement to make the exercise acceptable by law.
