The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has halted ongoing construction of a cement factory located in Accra.

On Friday, June 25, the Police Service stormed the cement factory close to the Weija junction and sealed its entrance.

President of the McCarthy Hill Residents Association, Edward Quaynor, speaking to JoyNews, explained the presence of the cement factory, a project undertaken by the Chinese in a dense area and a salt company, poses health risks to residents in the area.

He categorically stated that the Association's call to stop ongoing construction is mainly due to the health of residents and not a political stunt.

"You have a cement factory being developed close to a highly dense population, and next to a salt company is quite worrying, and that had always been our concern.

"So it is the health issues, nothing else. We are not into politics; our association is only interested in protecting the lives of children, mothers and others in this area," he told Maxwell Agbagba.

Aside from health concerns raised, Mr Quaynor noted that the presence of the cement factory would worsen the traffic congestion on the Accra-Kasoa Highway.

"Anybody who lives here and uses this route will attest that the traffic congestion is unbearable. Can you imagine when this facility is completed, the heavy traffic? No, so our objective is in two folds; health and the safety of the environment," he said.

According to him, the way forward is for the factory owners to secure their investment to come up with a different business plan.

"I've got a masters in Business, and I can sit down with them and give them some business ideas, but it will come at a cost," he suggested.

He, however, added that "I'm not interested in what they do and how they deploy their resources but what we are interested in is to close them down because it is not healthy."

Members of the Mccarthy Hill Residents Association are of the assertion that the Chinese investors behind the cement factory project are being supported by some members of government.

"It seems like the MP, and the MCE of this area are the ones behind this whole project. They are the ones that have supported the Chinese to get this going.

"This site is earmarked for wildlife because the little villages that live around the community here, they fish near the waterway. That is their livelihood.

"They always seem to talk and give support to the idea that it's a 1D1F project. To us, it is not. Some of us have lived outside; we know what health hazards are. You cannot do this in America, Europe and China."