Landlord urges AMA to enforce bye-laws on building construction
A landlord in Accra has appealed to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to fully enforce its bye-laws regulating the construction of buildings in the city, since its exercise of authority and control would check the building of illegal structures on water courses which leads to flooding during the rainy season.
Advertisement
The landlord, Mr Thomas Buxton, who is a businessman, made the request when he came to the Graphic office in Accra to complain of an illegal structure that was being built on his land at the Ring Road South Industrial Area.
Illegal structure on fence wall
According to him, even though he had leased the land to a tenant, the building extensions he (tenant) was undertaking had the possibilty to cause flooding since it interfered with the free flow of water in the neighbourhood.
He was also not happy with a three-storey building the tenant had mounted on a part of a fence wall round the land without notifying either him or the city authorities.
“I have filed several complaints with the AMA to check on the rate at which the tenant is rapidly putting up illegal structures on the land. But nothing has as yet come out of them,” he stressed.
He said if the AMA was meticulous in ensuring that people had building permits, the issue of flooding that occurred annually could be avoided or reduced to the barest minimum.
He recounted that on a visit to the premises of N. N. EST Metals Company on June 3, the rented property in question, he found the whole place flooded.
“I visited there a few weeks ago and noticed that the place was flooded with the water level up to my knee,” he said.
City authority’s response
Although the AMA admits the extension works on the building Mr Buxton speaks of, the AMA says the extension does not disrupt the flow of water in the locality.
That notwithstanding, the Development Control Officer at the Okaikoi South Sub Metro of the AMA, Mr Victus Gbekor, after leading the Daily Graphic round the premises of N.N. EST Metals Company Limited, said he would write an official report to the AMA Chief Executive, Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, for action on the matter.
“I’ll submit the report as soon as possible for immediate action to be taken,” he said.
He said it was possible that the structures that had been built illegally would be pulled down.
Company’s response
When contacted, the Managing Director of the N.N.EST Metals Company Limited, Mr Hussein Nasser Eddine, said the company was in the process of acquiring documents from the AMA for some of the structures it was putting up.
He said the building permits had delayed because the landlord had not given them the required documents to facilitate the process.
“Following the AMA instruction to us to produce permits for the buildings, we have stopped work and promised to abide by the AMA rules and regulations.
“We’ll, therefore, ensure that the necessary permits are attained before we continue building,” he said.