A portion of the stretch of land is being occupied by a sandcrete block factory, food and drinking bars and handicraft sellers.The drainage adjacent to the former Secaps Hotel occupies 4.1 acres of land, and the rest of about 3.01 acres has now been overtaken by these encroachers.

Officials of GS International Developers Ghana Limited, whose firm is constructing the drainage at no cost to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), expressed worry that encroachers were thwarting efforts to deliver the project. They mentioned A1 Pavement & Construction and Fuseina Salifu Enterprise as the major squatters of the land. These and other squatters have brought work on the drainage to a standstill.

At the site, The Chronicle gathered that A1 Pavement & Construction had built a fence wall just beside the edge of the drainage without a permit from the AMA, making it very difficult for work on the storm drain to continue. According to the AMA, the area was earmarked for an international circle and not for a block-making factory.

Some residents of the area told the paper that the area was a primary earth drain which was currently overgrown with weeds and rubbish, thus obstructing the free flow of water, adding that the activities of the A1 Pavement & Construction was also a threat to human health, due to the cement waste.

In an interview with The Chronicle, the Manager of GS International Limited, Mr. Chen Goufheng, told the paper that the activities of residents had brought their work to a standstill.

According to him, A1 Pavement & Construction and a flower shop around Tullow Ghana Limited have been operating without genuine permits.

'A1 Pavement & Construction license expired on August 31, 2012, and they are still operating there,' he added.

Documents available to the paper indicated that the area in question was re-zoned by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) for GS International Developers Ghana Limited, with a letter from the Lands Commission to effect the possible rezoning of the site around the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange from open space and horticulture to civic and commercial use.

Consequently, the Lands Commission, in a letter to the company dated October 2008, granted a right of entry to the site, to enable the company construct the approved storm drain or drainage system by the standards set by the Hydrological Service Department, Accra, and Ghana Highways Authority.

The letter, however, stated that the company should seek the relevant planning permission from the AMA before commencing work.

Mr. Goufheng further stated that on February 27, 2009, the Hydrological Services Department in a letter granted permission to the company to commence work on the construction of the storm drain

It is amazing that the Lands Commission remains unconcerned about the activities of A1 Pavement & Construction on the very site they leased to the company for 50 years, to enable the company construct the approved storm drain.

Source: Ghanaian Chronicle