I saw a news item on TV3 on Tuesday night, and then saw the same news as published by The Daily Graphic, on GhanaWeb.
Summary: A Chinese building engineer – Mr Hez Hong Fa – who allegedly insisted on having a building demolished using manual labour, was the only one killed, when the building suddenly collapsed, during the demolition exercise. A Ghanaian labourer had his leg broken.
The Daily Graphic quotes on of the labourers who were there:
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the labourers who survived the accident said they worked for Delta Construction Firm, which is currently working at GT Radial, a company located close to Mallam Junction, and that they were brought in last Friday to demolish the old structure to make way for a new hotel.
According to him, last Friday, they were asked by the deceased to remove the roofing, ceiling, windows and doors after which they started the demolishing.
The labourer said Mr Fa asked them to create cracks in the walls from beneath to make the demolition easier and quicker.
“He wanted us to finish the work within a day so that we would be paid only a daily wage of ¢20,000 but even when we do the less dangerous work it would take us more than a day, which he thought was expensive,†he alleged.
There are so many questions to be asked. Why did he (the deceased) choose to use manual labour, instead of a bull-dozer? Why were the labourers, as well as the deceased, not wearing any protective gear? Is it true that he rushed the labourers to finish-up in just one day so he could pay them for only a day’s job? A paltry sum of 20,000 cedis (about $2.17)? Why was he (Mr Hez Hong Fa) the only one who died?
I have no answers. Share your thoughts.
