The Ashanti Regional authorities have commenced the removal of structures along the streets of the region to ensure the smooth construction of the Suame Interchange.
This undertaking comes after the Suame Municipal Assembly, through a communique, asked owners of the structures to relocate.
The notice was served to the owners two weeks ago and the removal of temporary structures followed today, Thursday, July 6, 2023.
In an interview with Accra-based Citi News, the MCE for Suame, Mr. Maxwell Ofosu Boakye stated that measures are underway to take down the permanent structures as well.
“We made the announcement two weeks ago, and since this is a project that everyone is expecting, as of Friday, about 80 percent of them had already started relocating. As of Monday, because of how well they were cooperating, we decided to add two more days, which ended yesterday.
“Less than 10 percent of them were adamant and reluctant to move, so we had to use force. And as soon as we started doing that, the majority of them asked for a few hours to move out,” Ofosu Boakye said.
“I will thank them because we thought we were going to face a stiffer resistance from them, but it was more like they themselves saw the need for us to have the project done,” he further added.
The Ashanti Regional Director for the Urban Roads Department, Francis Gabrah, in June, disclosed that works on the Suame interchange would commence in July this year.
According to him, his outfit has submitted the preliminary design for the project and is optimistic work will be ongoing by July.
“This is a design-and-build contract, where the contractor is responsible for both the design and construction of the project. We started the design in February, and it is expected to be completed by August. However, we are almost finished. We have submitted the preliminary design, and we are even likely to start physical works by July,” he said.