Four communities demand compensation for Trans-West African coastal highway
Residents of four communities in the Ellembelle District in the Western Region have registered their displeasure at the delay in the payment of compensation due them.
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Property belonging to the residents were destroyed to make way for the construction of the trans-West African coastal highway that passes through the communities to Elubo.
The angry residents of AB Bokazo, Edwapole, Akpandue and Allah Bokazo besieged the camp of Chinese workers undertaking the construction works.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Ellembelle, Mr Daniel Eshun, told the Daily Graphic due to the delay in the payment of the compensation, the affected residents besieged the camp of the Chinese road construction workers at Akpandue to demand their compensation.
He said most of the affected persons had been compensated in full and that compensation for the remaining residents was currently being processed by the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA).
“Some of the residents intentionally destroyed their structures so that they can access the compensation from the government but the GHA will only pay the people who have made genuine compensation requests,” he said.
Police response
He said the police were quickly dispatched to Akpandue to ensure peace and security.
The police spent more than an hour to negotiate with the angry mob to restore calm at the Chinese camp after five of the Chinese were held hostage in their rooms.
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Mr Eshun said although some of the property of the Chinese construction workers were destroyed, the damage was not significant.
He advised the residents to channel their grievances to the GHA and not the Chinese construction workers since they were not responsible for the payment of the compensation.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic ,the Essiama District Police Commander, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr John Vordzorgbe, said the riot broke out at 6:00 a.m. and lasted for about five hours.
He said the police did not arrest anybody because of the large number of residents involved in the demonstration, “however, we are carrying out investigation to identify the people who organised the riot”.