Tema Metropolitan Assembly to demolish unauthorized structures and declare key public areas as security zones

Accra, Oct. 22, GNA. The Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) has resolved to demolish all unauthorised structures and kiosks scattered across the metropolis as part of a comprehensive effort to restore order, improve sanitation, and beautify the city.

This followed a stakeholder engagement that brought together traditional rulers, religious leaders, departmental heads, and staff of the assembly to deliberate on key developmental issues affecting the metropolis, particularly the proliferation of kiosks and poor sanitation practices.

Addressing the meeting, Madam Ebi Bright, the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, appealed to traditional and religious leaders to help educate their followers on the need to maintain discipline and support the assembly’s urban reorganisation efforts.

She announced that the Assembly had officially designated schools, hospitals, security installations, government premises, and service utility corridors as security zones, where no temporary structures, including kiosks and containers, would be allowed along fence walls, buffer areas, or access routes.

According to her, the move forms part of a broader strategy to reorganise temporary structures within Tema and replace them with green landscapes and ornamental plants to restore the city’s aesthetic appeal.

Madam Bright warned that all existing unauthorised structures within these declared zones would be removed immediately. Enforcement processes, she said, would include the issuance of legal notices, marking of structures for demolition, and subsequent clearance by the Assembly if offenders fail to comply.

“They should remove their structures themselves after receiving notices and warnings from TMA,” she said, adding, “If you don’t move them and the TMA does that for you, we will process you and surcharge you, and if needed, prosecution will follow.”

She emphasised that the TMA’s actions were in full accordance with its legal mandate to ensure a clean and organised metropolis, noting that some demolitions had already begun before the stakeholder meeting to signal the Assembly’s commitment to enforcement.

On sanitation, Madam Bright announced that Tema would embark on a two-day sanitation campaign ahead of the national sanitation day scheduled for November 1, 2025.

The campaign will begin on October 31, featuring strict enforcement of development control regulations, removal of temporary structures in security zones, and demolition of those erected after the July 21, 2025, ban on new structures.

On November 1, the Assembly will lead a deep cleaning exercise at the historic Republic School, home to the last of Tema’s ancestral gourd trees, alongside streetlight repairs, minor infrastructure works, and public space beautification projects.

Madam Bright reaffirmed the Assembly’s resolve to deliver a clean, secure, and visually appealing metropolis, stressing that the TMA’s interventions were not just cosmetic but part of a lasting urban management plan to “bring back the shine of Tema.”