Techiman Municipal And Building Inspectors Ignored My Orders—Asomah-Cheremeh Reveals

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, Honourable Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, has revealed that his order for the suspension of construction work on a storey building in the Techiman market, pending the submission of all required documents of permit, was ignored.

Speaking to Sunyani based Suncity FM, the clearly incensed minister wondered why his order, which was in the general interest of the people of the community was ignored, resulting in the collapse of the building, killing one and injuring two others on Wednesday.

According to Hon. Asomah-Cheremeh, construction of the said building commenced under the previous government, and upon visiting the construction site, he ordered the project managers to furnish him with the required documents of permit before he would allow the construction to continue. This order, he said, was ignored.

“This project began under the previous government and upon assuming office, I asked for documents on the building. Both the Municipal inspector and the building inspector could not provide the said documents,” he said. “I further asked the Municipal Chief Executive to provide me with documents as regards the owner of the building, a request the MCE also couldn’t honor. “Everyone was tight lipped and no one was ready to provide information, but what I heard via rumors was that the building belonged to one of the sub-chiefs of the area,” he told Suncity FM

“I ordered for the suspension of the project because required documents from the PWD, environmental health and sanitation, and other documents were absent from the assembly,” he continued. “I incurred the wrath of the project managers who called me all kinds of names for giving this order. They ignored the order and unfortunately such a disaster has befallen us,” he concluded.

Honorable Asomah-Cheremeh also confirmed that two individuals, Alfred Osei Berko, the Municipal Engineer, and Isaac Yeboah, the building inspector of the assembly, have been suspended, pending the conclusion of investigations into the collapse of the building.

He also hinted that a court order may be sought to bring down similar storey-buildings without the required documents in the area to forestall another disaster.