Minister of Trade must be summoned over demolition exercise at Trade Fair – Minority caucus

The Minority caucus on the Trade, Industry and Tourism Committee of Parliament is set to push for the Minister of Trade and Industry to be summoned before the House to provide answers for the recent demolition at Trade Fair.

The caucus intends to achieve this through the filing of an urgent question.

Some days ago, structures of some companies were demolished to pave the way for the Trade Fair Company to redevelop the area.

The firms demolished include that of a popular journalist, Raymond Archer.

Speaking to Citi News after visiting the site where the demolition took place, Ranking Member of the Trade, Industry, and Tourism Committee, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Bua, described the exercise as simply unjust.

“Look at the control panel over there, it is completely on the ground and everything here is destroyed and it is very sad. And if you listen to the chronology of events, they [companies operating at the premises of Trade Fair] had gone to court and the court put an injunction on any destruction of property until the matter is resolved and there was a decision made. The injunction was lifted and they went back to court and so the court processes have not ended and it means that as citizens, they still have the complete right and this is completely unjust”.

The Ranking Member indicated that they will file an urgent question to summon the Trade and Industry Minister to come and explain why this was done.

“We are not going to end this matter. We are immediately going to summon the Minister of Trade to come to Parliament to explain and answer questions on why this was done and we will follow up from there.”

The Member of Parliament for the Tamale Central constituency, Inusah Fuseini who was at the scene also said the people who did that lack compassion and are wicked.

“We came with you to see the level of destruction and to understand the lack of compassion of those who did this. And having seen this, I believe the people who carried out this had no soul and they are wicked people and impure humanity in them”.

Background

The Ghana Trade Fair Company demolished some buildings on its premises on the dawn of Monday, 17th February 2020.

In a statement, the company insisted that it “took all necessary steps” to inform the businesses of a redevelopment project it intends to undertake.

The Trade Fair has for some years now stated its intentions to revamp the facility to restore the once vibrant trading hub to its hay days.

It is for this reason that all of its occupants were asked to vacate the premises in 2018.

According to the management of the company the demolition was to allow for work to begin on-site.

The occupants were sensitized on the fact that the facility had to be broken down because the current makeshift structures do not fit an international trade fair site.

The company also said, “no business or businesses have ever been targeted for demolition because of their political or other affiliations.”

Giving some background to the issue, the company said it had informed all the tenants about the redevelopment project and gave them “the mandatory 6-month notice on July 10, 2018, to vacate the site by 31st December of the same year.”