The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly has confirmed that the demolition exercise at Asafo yesterday was a decision taken by the Assembly.
Speaking to Alfa Ali this morning, the head of Physical Planning at the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Mr Agyenim Boateng, explained that the demolition exercises were necessitated because residents had built structures along the Subin stream, which resulted in recent flooding in some parts of Asafo.
He also disclosed that the settlement in question was an informal settlement and the Assembly had taken notice of the insanitary conditions of residents as well as the illegal erection of temporary structures in the area.
“The referenced site is part of the Subin drainage, and we need to keep it intact so that we don’t get a blockade. They were putting up structures, whether temporary or whatever, without permission from the assembly”, Mr Agyenim Boateng explained.
He clarified that some residents had received compensation from the government to relocate from an informal settlement behind the Georgia Hotel, but they had instead moved to Asafo. He added that as an Assembly, KMA had decided that having an informal settlement in the middle of the city was unacceptable and had decided to clear it.
Mr Agyenim Boateng pointed out that the Assembly is not mandated to inform people who put up structures in unauthorised places before demolition.
“If you are building on a residential plot and you probably started without getting a permit, the law says we should inform you, give you time and stop work so that you can do remedies, and if there are penalties, you will pay, but on the other side, when you are in a public area, it can be open space, a school land, transport terminal or any public space, the law says we shouldn’t give you notice, we should just clear you off and that is what we decided to so”, he stressed.
The Assembly also confirmed that three officials had been injured in the demolition process but revealed plans that the Assembly would continue with the demolitions. However, Mr Agyenim Boateng said the assembly was not going to communicate the set demolition dates to avoid hostility and attacks on officials.
“Obviously, we knew that we were not going to finish in one day, it was going to be a journey, so at the appropriate time, we will bounce back. Even if I know when we are going to resume, I wouldn’t put it out there because of what we went through. We wouldn’t lay out strategies on the bare, but we will hit the ground again”, Mr Boateng disclosed.
Mr Agyenim Boateng reiterated the assembly’s commitment to ensuring proper town planning, saying that the assembly had pulled down lots of structures that had not gotten the attention of the media and would continue to ensure compliance and proper planning.
