The Ministry of Roads and Highways is urging local assemblies whose control span the Aburi mountain area to be firm and take action against persons undertaking construction activities on the mountain.
Kwasi Amoako Attah, the sector minister made the statement following suggestions that the many construction activities on the mountain are fuelling the breakdown and fall of rocks on the Peduase-Ayimensah road.
The Minister, Kwasi Amoako Attah, during an inspection exercise together with the leadership of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and Transport, said his outfit will issue a warning to the local assemblies and the relevant stakeholders to ensure that the issuance of permits for construction on the mountain is halted.
“We have to bring this to the attention of the local government authorities. I will do that with my colleague and issue a strong warning to all the relevant assemblies not to issue permit to potential developers on top of this hill. It lies within their domain to take action. Should any recalcitrant developer try to do that, immediately, such development must be halted by the assembly through demolition. We don’t even allow it to come up at all,” he said.
In barely two weeks, two rockfall incidents have occurred, leading to a temporary closure of the Accra bound section of the Aburi – Ayi Mensah road.
The latest rockfall was on Sunday, October 27, 2019.
Many have suggested that the various building projects on the mountain should be blamed for the rockfall.
An engineer, Mahama Abdulai, recently warned of more rock falls on the Accra-Aburi road in the Eastern Region, should the Akuapem South Assembly continue to allow construction activities on the slope or the peak of the Aburi Mountain.
He said such developments on the hill weaken the mountain’s rock formation and allow water to penetrate cracks, causing the particles to fall.
He further noted that any attempted engineering solution such as holding the foot of the mountain with a metal mesh will not work if estate developers on the mountain are allowed to continue building.
“When we are trying to do an engineering solution and we ignore what is happening up the slope, it will lead us no where. The Akuapim South Assembly has to sit up and stop the construction of buildings around the peak of the escarpment. When the surface is disturbed as it is now, there are segmentation in the rock and anytime it rains, water will infiltrate those fragments and make the materials loose.”