A family narrowly escaped death when their building, located at Tema Community Two within the BBC neighbourhood, collapsed.
The building that was closer to the Van Uden Company, known for shipping and freight forwarding, had construction activity that was allegedly responsible for the building’s collapse in the early hours of last Wednesday morning.
Background
Readers would recall that on Tuesday, May 9, this paper reported the activities of the company at Tema Community Two within the BBC neighbourhood, which posed as danger to residents.
In an interview with the Daily Statesman, the Assemblyman of the Area, Dela Bruce Hiltordzi, indicated that the family narrowly escaped death because the exact spot where the building collapsed is the entrance to the home of one Michael Yeboah.
He added that it was a devastating scene as wardrobes, glazing doors, and other valuable properties were destroyed by the construction activity.
“I rushed to the scene the very moment I got wind of the development. Indeed, it was a devastating sight as properties were destroyed with no recourse to the inhabitants’ lives. It was bad, and I spent time showing empathy to the affected family. Besides, everything pointed to the fact that harm has been caused,” he explained.
Support for injured
A resident, Emmanuel Amoah, noted that the activity of the company is dangerous to the lives of inhabitants in and around the community, saying “a little boy had his feet cut by roofing sheets at the time that part of the building collapsed,”.
He added that the story by this paper on the development went viral, with some TV and radio stations in the country using it as a newspaper review, hence the leadership resorting to giving the victim, Michael Yeboah, USD 2000 to get an apartment of his choice.
According to him, the leadership might have gotten wind of the publication and needed to act smart to avoid any likely consequences.
“I was standing closer to the site when some part of the building collapsed. Unfortunately, a little boy wanted to pick something from the room and had a cut on his leg. Frankly speaking, within a few hours, an official of the Van Uden company came to the wife of Michael Yeboah, pleading for them to temper justice with mercy,” he narrated.
Some workers involved in the construction activity alleged that the contractor, one, Samuel Ajiri Annang, would be in the best position to explain to the paper better, saying, “They couldn’t believe their eyes when they came to work and saw the collapsed building.
Contact
In view of this, the paper established contact with the alleged site contractor, Samuel Ajiri Annang, based on his general overview of the issues the construction activity purported to be supervised by him had caused a family.
In his response, the alleged contractor hinted that he only helped the company secure permits and other documentation needed for the smooth running of the project and that he doesn’t have any qualifications whatsoever to be given such a title.
He added that the project owners are his friends and that he will assist in furnishing the paper with the contact information of one other engineer so that he will stand exonerated.
“I only assisted them during the paperwork and came to the site to observe things for myself. I’m not the contractor and would furnish you with the contact information of another engineer so he can give you his perspective. In the meantime, do well to give me a day or two so I can get you the contact,” he noted.
After further investigations on the ground, it turned out that some workers recognised him as the contractor of some sort, considering his contribution from supervision to monitoring at the beginning of the project until the time the building belonging to the Yeboahs eventually collapsed.
The time he promised to furnish this paper with the contact information of another engineer has elapsed, and he hasn’t been able to produce the said engineer or contact despite his earlier assurance of knowing the owners of the project.
The paper further gathered that the owners had allegedly offered the Yeboahs an amount of USD 2000 after part of the building came down. However, we were reliably informed by some concerned residents that the family didn’t take the said cash because it was meagre to secure them a place to rent in the interim owing to the usual one-to-two-year advanced payment terms by some landlords.
The Daily Statesman is still following the story and would inform our cherished readers in the event of any other developments.
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