Residents of Nkroful in the Sekondi-Takoradi Municipality have expressed dismay over the mass reburial of corpses exhumed at the community cemetery last Saturday to pave way for the construction of a 13-kilometre dual carriage road.
About 80 corpses that were exhumed were reburied in a mass-burial thus triggering anger from relatives of the deceased.
Some officials from the Environmental and Sanitation Department of the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly were at the cemetery to supervise the exhumation and mass reburial without regard to the culture of the people and respect for the dead.
Mr. Eric Dadzie, an Opinion Leader at Nkroful, whose deceased family member was exhumed, told the Ghana News Agency, on Monday, and alleged that no libation and other traditional rites were performed before the exercise.
He also alleged that the graves that were destroyed for the exhumation of the corpses were not within the area earmarked for the construction of the road.
He alleged that the cemetery land had been sold by the traditional authorities in the area to an investor but because they could not clear the graves they took advantage of the road construction to destroy the cemetery.
Mr. Dadzie indicated that the deceased families had arranged a meeting with the chief of the town on Tuesday, January 26, to officially express their displeasure over the exercise and verify the status of the cemetery.
Meanwhile, Mr. John Laste, Public Relations Officer of the Assembly, told the GNA in an interview that the exhumation became necessary because the contractor constructing the road must complete the work on schedule to prevent cost-overrun.
He added that the mass reburial was carried out because there was a land dispute on the new cemetery site earmarked for the burial of the dead.
He said a lot of consultations were undertaken with other stakeholders before the exercise and explained that the traditional authorities supposed to play their part in the reburial of the exhumed bodies.
When the GNA contacted Mr. Francis Sarpong, the Project Manager for JUSTMOH Construction Company, contractors for the road, he said it was a dual carriage road and so apart from the travelling-way, there was the need for a 100 feet way-band on each side of the road for the passage of utility cables and bus stops, hence the expansion to the cemetery.
He said the Company consulted all the relevant stakeholders, including the Traditional Council and the Environmental and Sanitation Departments of the Assembly, before the exercise was carried out.
He said the exhumation was undertaken by the Environmental and Sanitation Department of the Assembly but the construction firm supported them with back-hole and chemicals to prevent any negative environmental and health effects.
The road is being constructed from Nkroful Junction through to Kansaweredo to Apollo Junction, near Apremdo, covering more than 13 kilometres.
