News:
June 22, 2015
Displaced residents of Sodom and Gomorrah a slum in Accra, whose houses were demolished over the weekend to make way for the dredging of the Korle Lagoon are soon to be provided with temporal shelters.
The move is expected to provide the affected persons most of whom are vulnerable some protection from the vagaries of the weather.
This follows a meeting by the National Security Secretariat and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) aimed at looking at the way forward after the demolishing.
Several people including social commentators have strongly criticized the Accra Metropolitan Assembly which led the demolishing exercise and by extension the government for being inhumane towards their victims by demolishing the homes most of which are wooden structures at a time when heavy rains have set in.
The situation has rendered thousands of residents homeless in an area with an estimated population of 60,000, which is one of Africa’s biggest slums.
Speaking on Joy News Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Nii Lante Vanderpuye stated that additional utility providers have been contacted to provide services to the affected persons.
“As we find accommodation for the victims, we have also asked the Ghana Water Company not to disconnect water supply to the area, it is the fasting period and the residents most of whom are Muslims would need water to perform ablution” he noted.
Hon. Nii Lante Vanderpuye also hinted that the AMA was not done with the demolition and would soon return to demolish some structures.
Kwadwo Anim/GhanaMPs.gov.gh