Several shops at the Neoplan station and around the Kwame Nkrumah circle in Accra were demolished on Sunday, October 5 by contractors from the department of urban roads.
The exercise, which commenced at exactly 10 am GMT saw two bulldozers stationed at the circle bus station and the other at the Neoplan bus terminal.
Officials from the Department of Urban Roads and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) were present on site to monitor the demolition exercise.
Over eighty shops were affected by the exercise as their respective owners looked on helplessly.
The exercise is to make way for ongoing construction of a three-tier interchange, which will transform the Kwame Nkrumah Circle into a pedestrian and motorist-friendly zone with linkages to various suburbs in Accra.
However, several shop-owners who were present at the demolition exercise complained bitterly about the short notice given to them and insisted they were yet to receive any form of compensation from the Department of urban roads.
“The Department of Urban roads who are coming to destroy the place they have not served any letter, they said they will give us some money they haven’t given us anything they have just cleared everything there we don’t have anywhere to go” – one shop owner said.
Others also questioned the validity of the exercise as they insisted their shops were rightfully acquired from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and that they had been paying monthly dues to the assembly.
Meanwhile, a representative from the department of urban roads denied all the claims made by the shop owners and insisted they had been compensated and given prior notice ahead of the demolition.
“They were given notice from the Urban Roads office two weeks ago, it is impossible how can this thing happen without compensating them” – he said
By: Benjamin Epton Owusu/citifmonline.com/Ghana