Legon, National Security litigate over ‘checkpoint’
The controversy surrounding the decision of the University of Ghana to construct tollbooths or security checkpoints on its campus roads continues to linger on.
The National Security and the university are still embroiled in litigation over the construction of a checkpoint at the southern gate of the university, a move that compelled the security apparatus to demolish the tollbooth in February this year because it caused public nuisance in the flow of traffic on the main Accra-Madina-Aburi highway.
National Security and the University of Ghana officials met last Friday to resolve the problem that the construction of the tollbooth or the security post at the current construction point at Okponglo end of the university campus was likely to pose to motorists.
At the meeting, the National Security is said to have directed the university authorities to put on hold the ongoing construction work on the checkpoint until an impact assessment from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been obtained or the project is relocated.
A statement issued in Accra by the National Security said its directive to the university was in view of the strain on traffic on the highway caused by the previous structure at the same location which was demolished to rule out the possibility of spillover of traffic onto the highway.
However, the university authorities, in another statement, also said there had been no point in time during the meeting when the National Security had instructed the university to suspend the project.
Structure is a security post
The university reiterated that the structure was not for collecting tolls and posed no security risk whatsoever.
It explained that the structure was a security observation post that was part of a larger entrance facility.
In a statement signed by the university’s Director of Public Affairs, Mrs Stella Amoah, and issued in Accra last Saturday, the university had agreed to meet with officials from the office of the National Security Coordinator to deliberate on issues concerning the ongoing construction at the Okponglo entrance of the university.
It, however, debunked allegations that the university had been directed by the National Security to stop the construction.
It said the university believed that having a security post at its main entrance was lawful and a standard practice at universities around the world.
According to the statement, the meeting ended with a request from the security officials for the university to allay the fears of sections of the public with more publicity.
