Dunkonah residents fight Chinese over life-threatening steel factory

There is a huge row reminiscent of a cold war brewing within Dunkonah, a suburb of Accra, one of the fastest developing residential areas close to Kokrobite.

Residents there have threatened a showdown against a team of Chinese investors who are currently busy constructing a steel factory to produce roofing sheets, nails, iron rods, among other metallic products.

A Chinese Company Sunda International under its subsidiary - Housemart Company Limited - has acquired a land in the neighbourhood and have started the construction of the factory, to the dissatisfaction of the residents.

The inhabitants believe the project when completed would be a life threatening one since activities and use of chemicals not well handled at the production point of the factory could be hazardous to human lives.

Already, residents are not able to withstand the unbearable noise emanating from the construction site in the middle of the community during the day and throughout the night.

They blamed and accused the Ga South Municipal Assembly for the low level of diligence on the project since the assembly irresponsibly issued building permits to the Chinese investors.

According to residents, this has given room for worry since a steel factory likely to work 24-hours when completed, would make domestic activities uncomfortable.

The group led by opinion leaders and other real estate developers, have also petitioned the Ga South Municipal Assembly to, as matter of urgency, stop the ongoing construction works.

Dunkonah is described variously by the Real Estate industry as "The Future of Accra" the pride of the West and as one of the fastest developing and well planned residential communities at the heart of the capital.

History has it that the entire area was acquired and set aside by SSNIT which invested it into serviced plots strictly for residential habitation in the mid 90s.

Some Real Estate developers, who have already invested huge sums of money, into purely residential developments in the area are alarmed the area is gradually losing its residential plan with people disinterested in servicing lands.

On the needed action that has to be taken, the residents admonished Ga South Municipal Assembly, who issued building permits to the Chinese to, as a matter of urgency, stop the project.

They said SSNIT, EPA Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) and the government should also be concerned about this clear and present danger.