The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah says his hands are tied in the case of a private developer erecting a fence wall across an asphalted road at Danyame in the Ashanti Region.

According to him, the private developer has full rights and access to the entire stretch of the land, although a State-constructed asphalted road runs through it.

Speaking to pressmen in the Ashanti Region, he said the road was constructed illegally and so no action can be taken against the private developer.

“I called the Regional Lands Officer, and I’m informed that, that place wasn’t a road, so the road was constructed illegally. I had no authority on the land and if I decided to stop the developer, it will lead to judgement debt to the government,” the Minister said.

Eyebrows were raised earlier this week when some residents and motorists noticed that the public road they had been plying for years had been blocked by a fence wall raised by a private developer across the road.

The development has completely blocked the access road to some offices of the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council.

Some drivers who spoke to Citi News called on the government to quickly resolve the issue as the development is leading to inconveniences to them.

“They have to do something about it. Where are the ministers, regional coordinating council officials? They should contact the owner and solve the problem,” a driver said.
Another driver also said, “I thought once the road has been constructed, you have to notify people before embarking on such a project. This is a public road that we all use.”