GRC clears Tema lines

The Ghana Railways Development Authority (GRDA) last Friday morning razed hundreds of structures sitting on the flanks of its tracks at Ayigbe town, at the Tema industrial area.

Over a thousand people, including the aged and expectant mothers, were affected by the exercise. The exercise itself was delayed due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic that struck Ghana in March.

The GRDA said it needed to carry out the exercise to allow enough space for the contractor, Afcons Construction Limited, to construct slopes and drains to contain rain water.

These would prevent the floors of the rail lines and gauge blocks from soaking and guard the longevity of the project.

The exercise was also done to prevent the 120km/hr speed train from claiming human lives when it starts operations from the Tema Port to Mpakadan in the Asuogyaman District, Eastern Region.

Lastly, the GRDA said it was necessary it flattened all the structures as soon as possible, to prevent the Government of Ghana from incurring costs as the entire project nears completion.

“The contractor has his scheduled date for the completion of the entire project and this exercise is part of the project which comes with no cost to us (state).

“If we, therefore, delay in allowing the contractor to clear these structures for the slopes and drains and the project period elapses, the state will have to bear the cost of the demolishing,” Nana AfuaOhenewa I, GRDA Corporate Affairs Director told The Chronicle.

The final warning to the squatters to salvage their properties before the D-Day, last Friday, was June 26, 2020 and the notice was visible on all the temporary structures sited in the area.

The GRDA task force, with heavy protection from armed police personnel, moved in to demolish the unauthorised structures, giving some squatters little time to save some of their household properties.

Those who could salvage their items threw the light properties or rolled the weighty ones onto the rail lines, to prevent the heavy earth moving machine from flattening them.

Uncontrollable tears ran down the faces of most women and children, as they wondered where they would put up in the night.

“We are helpless, as you can see, for we don’t know where to go from here. Who will be ready to rent their rooms to us in this era of Covid-19?

“Most of us here, after the first warning in March, combed Ashaiman, Kpone, Prampram and Tema Newtown to get rooms to rent, but with the pandemic, landlords andladies have refused to rent their rooms to us for fear that we might be carriers.

“It’s not as if we didn’t want to relocate but the Covid-19 pandemic prevented us from getting convenient places to move to,” Kwame Atta, the spokesperson for the residents of Ayigbe town, told The Chronicle in Ga.

The GRDA is clearing all structures within 30 meters at both flanks of its rail lines and Nana Ohenewa I said: “It is a non-stop exercise we are embarking on, to clear all structures that are within our space. We started at Sackey, Bediako, Tulaku, Sebrepor and Bethlehem and we are continuing towards the rail station at Community One.”

 

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