Tumu landlords give owners of roadside structures two-week ultimatum to relocate
Written on
The landlord and sectional heads of Tumu in Ghana's Sissala East Municipality have given owners of buildings and stores along roads near the Tumu roundabout two weeks to relocate to allow road construction to begin.
The landlord and sectional heads of Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality have given owners of structures along some roads in the town a two-week ultimatum to relocate to pave the way for road construction.
The directive affects buildings and stores located along the Tumu roundabout towards the Loe Road, where construction was expected to begin soon. The initiative is intended to improve cross-border transportation of goods and services between Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Baba Tommy Kanton, the landlord, gave the ultimatum during a meeting with the affected residents. He commended President John Mahama and the Member of Parliament for Sissala East, Isaah Mohammed Bataglia, for including the Tumu-Burkina Faso road in the government's road infrastructure programme, and also praised Mawums Construction Limited for its work, appealing for the remaining town road projects to be awarded to the company.
Baba Kanton stressed that his intervention was for the development of the area and not for votes, and cautioned the MP and other government officials against interfering with the contractor's work, saying political intervention could be motivated by attempts to win favour with residents. He acknowledged that some affected residents might plead for more time but urged them not to do so.
The MP assured affected residents that the road project would proceed in line with the landlord's directive, acknowledging the difficulties associated with the relocation exercise but saying the broader development needs of the municipality had to be considered. He said he would work closely with the contractor to minimise the impact on residents.
One affected resident, Alhaji YY, appealed to the landlord to consider granting residents an additional three days if they could not vacate within the two-week period. He said that although residents were unhappy about losing parts of their properties, they supported the landlord's vision of developing the area, adding that he was born in one of the affected houses, which is more than 70 years old, but had no option but to give up part of the structure to make way for the road.