One of the structures
About 88 properties have so far been classified as unsafe in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of the Western Region.
The structures have been described as liable for demolition or remedial intervention.
The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Office of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) identified 88 structures within the metropolis.
This follows assessments that found them to pose varying levels of structural and public safety risk.
The affected properties include residential facilities, schools, recreational centres and commercial premises, some of which remain occupied by caretakers, squatters and property owners despite the apparent structural deficiencies.
A structural integrity and risk assessment exercise undertaken by the Metropolitan NADMO office revealed extensive defects on several residential, commercial and institutional properties across the metropolis.
The defects included structural cracks, exposed reinforcement bars, deteriorated roofing systems, damaged openings and weakened building components.
Some of the structures are either abandoned or no longer fit for human habitation.
Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan NADMO Director, Alhaji Abubakar Kamal, disclosed that notices have been served on identified property owners in line with the enforcement and public safety responsibilities of the Assembly and NADMO.
“I must say the identification of these owners has been a challenge. But those we have identified, we have served them notices,” he stressed.
He explained that while some structures require technical structural integrity assessments to determine their condition, others visibly exhibit severe deterioration that presents an immediate hazard to life and property.
“Honestly, some of them on the face of what you see may appear dangerous and dilapidated, but we need some integrity tests to confirm what we have seen.
“So we are now working to ensure that those that need to be demolished we go ahead and do so. Those that can be renovated also we ask the owners of the building to renovate them,” he added.
He noted that the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), mandates the Metropolitan Assemblies to exercise control over physical development.
“It also mandates the assemblies to take measures necessary to safeguard public safety, sanitation and orderly development within their jurisdictions,” he noted.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi