40 HOUSES IN LIMBO...As parties litigate, DAILY GRAPHIC (FRONT PAGE)

Story: Della Russel Ocloo, Tema

ABOUT 40 houses built by Osullivan Estates in partnership with HFC Bank, are slated for demolition following the Accra High Court decision against Ms Mariama Jentuma, the estate developer.
Residents of the gated estate at Community 20, a suburb of Tema, are living in fear following the order for the demolition exercise, which was to have been carried out early yesterday morning.
When the Daily Graphic visited the community at about 8:30 a.m, angry residents were engaged in a fierce confrontation with some officials of the HFC Bank, which financed the mortgage for the homes.
A resident, Ms Adjoa Halm-Quagrine, told the Daily Graphic the they were awakened around 5 a.m yesterday morning by the sounds of bulldozers which the plaintiffs had positioned at the boundaries of the estate and were ready to pull down their houses.
She indicated that the operatives, who were accompanied by five uniformed police personnel from the Tema Regional Police Command, asked them to make way for the exercise.
This, according to her, brought activities to a halt as residents had to gather to find an alternative solution to the problem.
An official of HFC told the Daily Graphic that the 63-acre land was acquired eight years ago by the developer, Ms Jentuma, who entered into partnership with the bank as a major financier.
He indicated that following recent court ruling which declared the Sesei-Bortier Family of Nungua as owners of the land, the bank as an entity filed a stay of execution at an Accra High Court, which application was yet to be heard.
Solicitors of the bank who visited the neighbourhood after an Accra-based radio station broadcast the news declined comments. They, however, asked residents to exercise restraint while they pursued the appeal before the law courts.
Distraught owners of the houses have, however, appealed to the authorities for speedy action to save the property they have acquired with their lifetime savings.
The houses, according to Daily Graphic sources, cost about $55,000 each and this they are not ready to see reduced to debris.
The Sesei-Bortier Family, who are the plaintiffs, could, however, not be reached for their reaction.