Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Kwame Acheampong has asked all developers working on the Ayi Mensah-Aburi hill to comply with building regulations.

Stones and debris recently fell from the hill unto the road posing severe danger to motorists and other road users.

Mr. Acheampong, who has visited the area to observe the situation attributed it to the road construction and disregard for building regulations.

“We have to enforce the regulations and the laws, and so we have allowed the client who is the owner of the neighborhood at the municipality to take charge because it is through the municipality they’ll come and acquire permits for development.”

“Unfortunately, because of the high-handedness of deploying in this area, people come to work over night.”

“So, we’d have to double up and allow patrols by security personnel to break people’s properties down, but if you don’t go through the proper operation procedure, your genuine action and intention will go against you and you can be penalized for that on the side of the law,” he said.

Some residents also spoke to Joy News about how scary the situation is.

“Whenever it rains, it carries a lot of debris unto the road and it makes it uncomfortable driving through. I think when something is done it will help save lives here,” one resident said.

Another also said, “it’s a major problem here mostly when it rains, the stones are washed down, we advise the builders on the mountain to stop it, but they didn’t listen to our advice and they went ahead. We are even afraid that one day everything will just fall off and come down”

Meanwhile, Director of Greater Accra Roads, Ing. Emmanuel Laryea Odai says an aerial assessment would be done using drones to assist his office develop a long-term solution to the problem.

“We have to use the drone to help us get the aerial view so that it will give us a proper immediate and a long-term solution. As an initial engineering solution, we believe that the stone that is being washed unto the road can be levelled and properly compacted, and the water kennel properly drained to the road side so that we’ll get fresh water."

"So that’s the first policy we want to put in place while we bring people in so that they also help and get total engineering solution,”he said.

On Wednesday morning, July 5, 2023, motorists were greeted with a substantial amount of sand and stones on the Peduase-Ayi Mensah road, obstructing movement of vehicles and reducing the two-lane road into a single lane.

JoyNews’ correspondent, Carlos Calony, who was at the scene explained that the stones and sand on the road forced drivers to use only the inner lane due to the fear of using the outer lane considering the curvy nature of the road.