The management of Chinese Firm, Sunda says it is strictly operating within law and with the consent of property owners at Bortianor near Accra in the blasting of rocks within the enclave.
The Firm which is levelling a portion of land acquired for the construction of the biggest detergent factory in Africa says it has no intention of endangering the lives of people living in and around the blasting site insisting it is doing so under strict supervision and in compliance with directives by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Minerals commission.
Some Residents of Bortianor, Redtop, Westhills City, Aplaku, Old Barrier and Weija SCC have raised concern over the activities of some Chinese contractors in the area.
According to them, recent activities of a Chinese-owned company has been causing artificial earthquakes and tremors in the enclave.
Chairman of the Westhills City Landlords and Residents Association, Reverend Antwi Wiredu said residents in the area had taken to believing that earthquakes had become rampant in the area.
However, following an investigation from the community leaders, they discovered that construction work at a site in the area is the cause of the tremors. But management of the Saunda has been reacting.
According the assistant project manager of Saunda, Richard Awusi Adinkrah the company since its entry into the enclave has maintained good relationship with the inhabitants and is focused on maintaining it.’ What we doing is levelling the land so we can put up a factory and because part of the land is rocky we have acquired license to blast and we have also employ technology such that when we blast there will not be stones flying but we admit that the impact of the blasting cause some damage and in this case cracks to buildings and in some instance damage to electronic gadgets mostly television sets.
But before we undertake any blast which is usually between 4:30 to 6pm we announce to the community to be on the lookout and once it’s done we go round the community to check damage and also people with identified cracks also report to us and we quickly attend to it, Mr. Adinkra indicated.
According to him Sunda will continue to listen to the concerns of the community and address them where necessary. ‘we have millions of dollars in investment and we have no intention of creating an animosity between us and our host and that is why we go all out to help and as I speak most of our employees are from here, we have constructed inner roads, market places so you can see we have the interest of the community at heart.
Established in 2000, Sunda International Group is one of the international trade enterprises. The company currently has several factories producing ceramic tiles, diapers, nails, soap and other fast moving consumer goods and also in the real estate space employing thousands of Ghanaians.