McCarthy Hill off the Accra-Winneba road, is a suburb of Accra that evokes wealth, prestige and power. The last thing anyone would associate its residents with is demonstrations, so what were they doing carrying placards, on a Saturday morning?

Picketing: The residents’ were picketing the area’s branch of the International Central Gospel Church (ICGCC) which has started constructing a church building at a site described by residents as unauthorised.

They contended that their rights to a tranquil environment would be breached, should the construction of the church building be allowed in the locality.

So, to protect this right, the McCarthy Hill Residents Association last Saturday morning converged at the building site to register their disapproval of the construction of the church’s building.

Placards carried read: ‘Leave us in peace,’ ‘ practise what you preach;’ ‘Stop the congestion,’ and ‘Don’t disturb others’ among others.

The picket, which lasted for about two hours prevented the workers who had gone to the site that Saturday morning from working.

The association is also threatening legal action against the ICGCC.

Briefing the press, on the issue, the secretary of the association, Kamel Noshie, said that apart from the noisy atmosphere the church’s activities would create, it would also affect the security of the community as there would be an influx of all kinds of people in the area at anytime.

The secretary, who is an architect, questioned the church’s adherence to the various building regulations, especially those with regards to the zoning, parking ratio, consent of adjoining neighbours and building to land ratio.

Mr Noshie explained that the residents upon realising a church was being built in the area, contacted the Ga West District Town and Country Planning Department which ordered the builders to stop work and produce the relevant document, by December 12.

He said that the church defied the order and rather placed a permit number on the building which is at a foundation level.

The association consequently wrote to the Town and Country Planning Department national head office in Accra on December 4, to inform it about the situation. "An officer was delegated to evaluate the building location," he added. Mr Noshie said since nothing was heard thereafter, the only option left to them now is to take a legal action to restrain the church from continuing with the building.

The building has also allegedly blocked an access road to the houses of some residents while its construction had resulted in damaging some pipelines which supply water to some houses in the area thus denying the affected houses of potable water.

An official of the church, who was at the site during the protest, declined to comment when contacted by the Times.

A planning officer with the Ga West and Country Planning, Christine Hammond, when contacted, expressed surprise at the church’s action saying, "we stopped them from working and even collected some of their tools."

She said the church was not able to produce the drawing upon which the permit was given and besides, had not yet satisfied the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental assessment.

Ms Hammond warned that the church would risk demolition of the building if it did not satisfy all the building regulations and requirements before going on with the constructional work.

Ms Hammond assured the residents that the Town and Country Planning Department would do all within its powers to settle the issue.