Former Ayawaso Central MP Henry Quartey has mentioned in an interview that he’s not surprised by the tragedy that occurred at Accra New Town over the weekend.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, he explained that structural problems were identified as far back as 2012.
“We had noticed structural integrity issues with that building years ago. Back in 2012, the NDC was in power and I was an MP.
We noticed that a contract had been awarded, but the building had serious safety risks,” he said. “We flagged it, but the sub metro didn’t act because my government was not in power at the time.”
He added that efforts were renewed after a change in government. “When we won power in 2016, we tried to resolve the matter.
“Alhaji Mohammed, who became the MCE of Ayawaso Central in 2017, made attempts to assess the building and decide whether to repair or demolish it,” he stated.
According to him, plans were also made to relocate schoolchildren to a safer place. However, those efforts stalled.
“When the assembly tried to get near the building, the contractor refused to allow them to intervene, claiming he had not been paid,” he said.
Quartey described the structure as highly unsafe. “It was a death trap. Even if there were a fire outbreak, the fire service would not have had access to rescue the children. I tried to raise the alarm, but we were not allowed to take action.”
“This is not about politics. It’s about saving lives. If we had listened earlier, this tragedy could have been avoided,” he stated.
