Woodworkers at Kaase Angola in the Asokwa Municipality of the Ashanti Region have said they will resist any attempts by the city authorities to evict them from their current location.
The woodworkers, numbering about 3,000, have occupied the Kumasi Jute Factory‘s land for about 25 years.
They have recently been issued letters evicting them from their current location.
Chairman of the Woodworkers’ Association, George Tawia told Class 91.3 FM’s Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Elisha Adarkwah, that, their colleagues, who used to ply their trade at Anloga Junction, were allocated the Sokoban Wood village to settle down, which was prepared by government. However, their case is different, they are being asked to vacate the land, without any alternative place to move to.
They, therefore, want the authorities to do same for their association as they did for Anloga Junction mates or they will resist any attempts to evict them forcefully.
“If you say you’re evicting us, we don’t have a problem, just find us a place to relocate to but the place was so small for us.
“So after that, the following day, they put notices around informing us of the eviction. We said we don’t have a problem with that, our issue is to get us a place. Also, put into consideration our numbers, while doing that, so we can move,” they said.
Some members of the association also pleaded with the authorities to find them a place to relocate to instead of just evicting them.
One said: “We’re pleading with the authorities to find us a place. They say they are evicting us, we also do not have anywhere to go.”
“This place is big enough for our operations. This is where we get our source of livelihood. If you’re evicting us, where do we go?” another quizzed.