The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) has for the past one year stopped issuing and renewing permits for the siting of containers in the Metropolis.

Mr Maxwell Adu Boateng, Tema Metropolitan Works Engineer, disclosing this to the Ghana News Agency said since April 2017, TMA has not issued or renewed permits which allowed residents to site containers and other structures in the area.

Mr Boateng noted that the decision to stop issuing the permit came at the back of abuse of siting of containers in the Metropolis as people indiscriminately put up such structures at unapproved areas.

He said instead of placing them at the markets, most of them put their containers on pavements, grassing, school parks, car parks, and pathways among others.

He announced that as part of the Assembly’s restoration agenda, his outfit was embarking on a decongestion exercise targeted at clearing all containers wrongfully sited in all the communities.

The Metropolitan Engineer indicated that his office had posted removal notices on all affected containers giving them an option to either remove them or have them demolished.

According to him, the TMA Works Department would continue to clear the containers no matter the claims of owners that “they were paying tolls to the Assembly” because the Assembly was not were not aware of any payment.

A number of containers had been demolished in the past three weeks at parts of Tema Community Four including the frontage of the Narh-Bita Nursing College.

Mr Boateng said to ensure that containers cleared from the affected areas did not find themselves in another area, his outfit had resorted to cutting the containers into sheets.