Some residents of Bawaleshie, a suburb of East Legon have admitted that they were warned by authorities ahead of a demolition exercise on Tuesday morning.

The demolition, which was carried out by a taskforce from the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) saw the razing of a number of kiosks and containers, erected under high tensions poles.

"The authorities say the parcel of land here is for government and therefore they do not want kiosks and containers around here. However, if you mount a tent, they'll not pull it down. They had warned us several times. But it appears we have just paid deaf ears to their cautions", an onlooker said.

Some occupants who spoke to JoyNews' Manuel Koranteng, however, explained that their continuous stay on the land was not a deliberate attempt to disregard the authorities.

Expressing their worry, they stated that they have no other place to relocate hence their continuous stay.

"There are issues worrying us. This is our only business center. We don't have any other place to go. We work here, close and go home. That's the routine that helps us feed our wives and dependants. So now that they're demolition our structures, what are we going to do?

"Life is actually hard for us. We can't make ends meet. And on top of that, you have come to raze our structures. How are we going to handle this? Are we moving from here to our hometowns or what are we doing? They should tell us. If we're not Ghanaians, they should also let us know," another squatter lamented.

Meanwhile, the GRIDCo has stated that it is bent on demolishing all illegal structures sited under high tension lines.

This it says is part of efforts to reduce the growing human activities around its poles.

The power generation company also explained that the site is not suitable for human habitation.

The exercise, which began on Tuesday morning saw hundreds of squatters rushing to salvage their belongings.

On the grounds, the task force used to huge tractors to flatten all unapproved structures, with some onlookers and residents staring in dismay.