Companies and individuals developing parcels of land on waterways, especially at Beach Road (a first-class residential area) in Takoradi, have been cautioned to put a stop to their works or they will be sanctioned.
“This area has the biggest drain which collects all the water from the Central Business District and households in Takoradi; if it should rain today, there will be floods in the city and businesses will come to a halt as it has been happening,” Anthony K.K. Sam, Chief Executive of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), told the media after a field inspection at some encroached waterways at Beach Road in Takoradi.
The inspection team comprised a combined team of engineers from STMA, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ghana Water Company Limited, metro guards, the military, physical planning team among others.
The MCE noted that Beach Road has a lot of hotels and tourism facilities. “This area is currently under threat because the drainage behind those facilities has been blocked by developers, apparently without any authority. If it rains in Takoradi, between 20-30 minutes later all areas in Takoradi become flooded; churches and individuals who are filling parcels of land for development should stop forthwith since they do not have permits,” he said.
He explained that if the individual needs to develop any piece of land, it is appropriate for the developer to pass through the usual procedure and have a building inspector on site before work begins.
“Those who have documents to parcels of land or are developing these areas should forward them to the Development Control Room and Works Department of the assembly; with failure to do so, the committee will sit and review the whole process and apply the necessary sanctions,” he added.
Kofi Yeboah, Head of Physical Planning Department of STMA, pointed out that a lot of people are building too close to the buffer of the main drainage, and this has an effect on the people. According to him, there are a lot of land transactions going on in the area; and the area needs to be given the necessary infrastructure before any development starts.
“What the city authority wants is that the planning committee will centre its attention on this area from this week, and we will ensure that that this area conforms to the building standard we have set up.”
