Interior Minister, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, said authorities will demolish 16 structurally unsafe buildings in the Greater Accra Region as part of efforts to prevent further building-related disasters.
The announcement follows the collapse of a three-storey building at Avenor in the North Kaneshie area on June 7, which killed two people and injured three others, renewing concerns over the safety of ageing and poorly maintained structures in the capital.
Speaking to reporters during an inspection of the collapse site, Muntaka said the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) had identified 16 buildings considered unsafe for habitation.
He said authorities had begun evacuating occupants from the affected structures ahead of demolition.
“Currently, NADMO has identified about 16 buildings within the Greater Accra Region that have to come down. We are going to ensure that, coming into the week, they will go and get all those buildings down,” Muntaka said.
The minister said the exercise formed part of a broader government strategy to reduce preventable disasters and protect lives and property.
“We are currently doing the evacuations, and they must bring all those buildings down,” he said. “Some things are natural, and God will take care of the supernatural, but for the natural ones, we have to take care of them.”
Muntaka said stronger enforcement of building safety regulations was necessary to prevent future incidents, adding that authorities had a responsibility to address known structural risks before they resulted in loss of life.
The government has faced increasing pressure to tighten oversight of building standards following a series of collapses and other structural failures in parts of the country.
