Photos: Construction firm exposes kids to fibre optic trenches at Kwabenya, Airport

A fibre optic laying firm's activities at the Airport Residential Area, Kwabenya and other areas is causing grave concern to residents and motorists.

The construction firm, Jamai, is believed to be an Indian company. The outfit, residents say, carries out digging of trenches in these areas and leaves them uncovered.

Residents say these trenches, dug for fibre optic cables, expose vulnerable children in the areas to danger.

Not only do the firm's activities leave the children at risk, but also to motorists and pedestrians due to the heap of sand they leave unattended after work.

Additionally, the company is accused of pre-casting and mixing concrete on the streets instead of in concrete mixers. Residents say this has left caked concrete on the asphalt which over time, renders the streets unmotorable.

A worried resident in Kwabenya- Doe said in an interview: “I just don’t understand some of these contractors. They mix the concrete on the asphalt government has spent so much to construct."

He added: “Even as a lay man I know the best way to mix concrete is done in a mixer and not on the streets. The other day a car nearly crashed because of a heaped sand by the road side.

“They dig in front of houses and they don’t cover it after laying whatever they put in the trenches. It’s bad. I think [the Department of] Urban Roads and other authorities should check this. It’s terrible.”

Checks suggest that the said company was hired by Google Ghana.

It is also worrying that staff of the company have been spotted several times working without wearing safety gear, while motorists have complained that appropriate caution signs are absent to alert road users.

Another resident at the Airport Residential Area, George, said: “I hear the construction firm is an Indian company but you always see local workers and their finishing is not the best. They do it in a such a way that residents find it difficult to enter their gates. You know this is an area where many of our big men live.”

A further probe into the matter indicated that the Indian company, after landing the contract from Google Ghana, sub-let the work to a local contractor.

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