3-month-old baby and mother found in rubble of demolished structures at Bawaleshie
A three-month-old baby and its mother have been left stranded following the demolition by the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) at Bawaleshie on Tuesday.
According to the mother who lives with his husband, a barber, they would have to pass the night in the rubble since they have nowhere else to go.
She said they were forced to move from their previous place, Kofi Togo yard, where they were residing as squatters to Bawaleshie.
“We have nowhere to sleep. We do not even have money so I would sleep by my baby this night,” she told Joy News’ Samuel Kojo Brace who reported live from the demolition site.
On Tuesday, July 12, GRIDCo led a taskforce to demolish illegal structures sited under some of its high tension lines in the Ayawaso West Wuogon municipality.
The power generation company also explained that the site is not suitable for human habitation.
Hundreds of the squatters at Bawaleshie rushed to salvage their belongings in order to avoid being bulldozed by the team.
Speaking to JoyNews, the squatters said they were not given prior notice about the exercise.
However, GRIDCo in a statement explained that its ongoing demolition exercise is to get rid of encroachers occupying its Right of Way.
GRIDCo said the activities of encroachers “pose a threat to its transmission towers and a danger to the lives of encroachers.”
According to the company, in October 2021, in partnership with identified district assemblies and the Media, GRIDCo undertook a nationwide Right of Way sensitisation exercise to educate encroachers about the risk associated with their activities along the Company’s Right of Way.
GRIDCo noted that during the sensitisation exercise, it urged compliance with timelines provided in media publications to prevent any inconveniences.
“Under the Transmission Line Protection Regulations, 1967 (LI 542) as amended by Regulation No. LI 1737 of 2004, it is an offence for persons or institutions to conduct any form of activity in relation to the lands around the location of power transmission lines and towers in Ghana,” portions of the statement from GRIDCo said.
Many other persons have also been left stranded after the demolition exercise and have appealed for support from the government.
Source: Ghana News
