Teshie Concerned Citizens Association (TCCA) is highly appreciative and full of praise for the Minister of Roads and Highways for sending a delegation to visit the Teshie Bush road where illegal structures are being constructed along the waterways and reserved road.

On April 29, the group TCCA petitioned the Minister to stop illegal construction taking place at the Teshie Bush road along the Kpeshie river which is reserved as a waterway.

Upon receipt of the petition, the Minister, Honourable Amoako Atta constituted a committee comprising the Mr. Philip Lartey, Director, PPP, Ministry of Roads and Highways, Mr Francis Ahlidza, Deputy Director, M&E, Ministry of Roads and Highways, Ms Anthea Phanos, Assistant Director of Administration Ministry of Roads and Highways, Mr Alex Asamoah, Department of Urban Roads, Mr Benjamin Adomah, Department of Urban Roads, Engineer Martin Essilfie, Ledzokuku Municipal Assembly LEKMa office to look into the matter.

The team led by the Chairman of TCCA, Mr Seth Tagoe, toured the area on Thursday 15th May to examine the ongoing illegal projects and other developmental issues within the Teshie Camp, Bush Road, Demo, and Rasta area.

The illegal construction on the waterways is a serious concern to us and several efforts on our part to stop the construction has proven futile.

The site where the illegal construction is taking place is reserved as waterways and you may recall in 2009, the then Ledzokuku Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA)  joined forces with the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service and pulled down all structures along the waterways because they were posing severe flooding dangers to residents in the area.

The demolition exercise was met with strong protest by the occupants of the site but the resilient forces proceeded and pulled down those structures to save the river, the community and the people within the catchment area.

After one-decade lull and without protecting or fencing the site, some recalcitrant opportunists have started building openly without permit ...even though there is suspicion that an upper hand is shielding them.

I wish to draw our memories to an incident last year when we lost a female medical doctor in the area when she was carried away in her car by strong currents of rushing flood,  which eventually killed her and her unborn child.

Again, the accident of which a tipper truck killed people in a taxi due to the narrow road is still fresh in our memories.

Any attempt to allow this illegal building to continue can be a major environmental violation that will expose residents to the flood hazard that each year claims victims.

We have confidence in the Minister that he is committed to addressing our issues immediately especially since the rain is coming soon and flooding is inevitable and also to prevent a planned demonstration by the residents.

Seth Tagoe

Chairman, Teshie Concerned Citizens Association