The Municipal Chief Executive for Obuasi, Elijah Adansi-Bonah, is leading a week- long decongestion exercise at Obuasi. The rationale behind this massive decongestion exercise was to rid Obuasi of unauthorised structures to help keep Obuasi clean.
The exercise, which commenced on Sunday, 30th October, 2022, started from the Central Business District where traders who sell on the streets were removed to improve traffic flow, especially in the Central Market. The exercise continued at Gauso, Mangoase, Bidiem and Kokoteasua where illegal permanent structures were also demolished.
Police personnel, staff of the works department of the Assembly as well as Media personnel from Obuasi were also involved in the exercise to serve as deterrence to others who have also put up illegal structures.
Before the exercise, structures that were mounted along the Obuasi Sec Tech fence wall served as safe abodes for criminals who occasionally attacked students of the school. Again, the presence of the structures allowed students of the school to scale the fence wall to town.
Commenting on the thinking behind the exercise the MCE said the Assembly is poised to ensure sanity at Obuasi by doing away with unauthorised structures and traders who defy the dangers involved in selling on the streets of Obuasi.
He said ” as an Assembly we cannot continue to allow people to take the laws into their own hands, build structures and even sell on the road. We have to act by allowing the law to work. We believe after the exercise Obuasi will regain its bragging right as the cleanest city in Ghana”
He emphasised that prior to the exercise, notices were served individuals who have put up illegal structures, to remove them before the Assembly commences the exercise, yet all those warnings were not heeded to.
Mr Adansi-Bonah again assured the people of Obuasi that, the Assembly is committed to allowing businesses to thrive but stressed that this should not be at the detriment of the safety of the people in the Municipality.
“This will be a continuous exercise, we are going for a court order which will empower the Assembly to serve notices to those who have built their structures without obtaining permit from the Assembly,” he said.
Impunity and lawlessness
The Municipal Works Engineer, David Agyei, bemoaned the level of lawlessness in society. He said contrary to the laid down procedures, people choose to mount structures without applying for permit from the Assembly. He said the practice if not checked will lead to impunity and the consequences could be disastrous.
He, however, served notice to those who still have their structures at unauthorised places that the Assembly is determined to see the exercise to a successful completion in a bid to maintain a safe and healthy environment.
Reactions
While some occupants of the unauthorised structures looked on when the demolishing exercise was ongoing, others expressed their anger saying the Assembly could have spared their structures, especially with the current economic situation in the country.
Some residents of Gauso and Kokoteasua attempted to resist the exercise saying the Assembly watched on while they erected their structures.
This was, however, refuted by the MCE who said the Assembly issued notices to them to stop work but the people disregarded them.