Photos
Demolition At Trade Fair Centre Draconian, Barbaric – Sammy Gyamfi
Speaking on PM Express, Monday, Mr. Gyamfi described as ‘barbaric’ the decision to reduce factories to debris, stressing that the act was unlawful.
“As a party, we condemn in no uncertain terms, this draconian demolition exercise which was carried out by the National Security and the authorities of Trade Fair. It is illegal, improper, unconscionable, unfair and barbaric,” he said.
“Clearly, this is a political job. What they have done has got nothing to do with the law. It is politically-motivated. It is a clear case of injustice,” he added.
Ghana Trade Fair Company Limited (GTFCL) pulled down a number of structures belonging to different companies following a redevelopment project it intends to undertake.
The exercise which began around 10pm and ended after 12:00am saw two bulldozers and a team of armed police officers overseeing the destruction of structures and heavy industrial equipment.
Raymond Archer, Chief Executive Officer of Universal Labels & Packaging Co. Ltd and Colour Planet Limited, whose facilities were among the many that were demolished told GhanaWeb his factory has been in operation for over a decade and had injected a whopping $10 million into the business.
A visibly worried Mr. Archer speaking to GhanaWeb suggested that government erred because his lawyers earlier filed an appeal and a stay of execution after officials went to court to lift an injunction that the court had placed on the Trade Fair.
“Four years ago, I was here when officials came that they want to redevelop the Trade Fair so I said okay. I’m a legal tenant and my construction was actually supervised by the Trade Fair. I’ve put in $10 million here…so they started doing a whole lot of things here which made me head to court,” he recalled.
The demolition of his facility therefore came to him as a surprise. He wondered why businesses will be targeted for destruction in the incessant quest to erect another for political reasons.
He said: “We built a beautiful factory that employs over 120 workers, there are a lot of products were are doing now that we’re are the only factory in Africa that can do these kinds of works. So to see our government target a business like this and break it down midnight is really unacceptable.
“We are citizens here. How do you destroy one’s business because you want to bring another person’s business using politics? If you destroy my business with politics, then what? If I also get power, I also break it down? Where did we go as a people? And this business has nothing to do with politics. In fact, when I was doing this business, I specifically not to do government projects purposely because I didn’t want the politics in my business. Every work we’re doing here is for private sector.
“So to target the business, [and say] ‘we’re government, you can’t fight the government…’;’I’m not here to fight the government; I’m here to earn a living and an honest one at that.”
