AMA demolition at Old Fadama: No retreat; Says AMA
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) says there is no retreat in its decision to demolish structures at Old Fadama.
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It is, however, willing to make transportation available for victims of the demolition who are prepared to relocate to their home towns.
According to the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, the decision was a major step towards saving lives and property.
The AMA’s demolition of structures in the slum popularly referred to as Sodom and Gomorrah, described by urban planners as a national disgrace, has attracted both condemnation and applause.
Rift between chief executive and Odododiodoo NDC executives
But the Odododiodoo Constituency of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) is up in arms against Mr Vanderpuije, claiming that the MCE’s action could cost the party the 2016 elections.
Politically, the area is one of the party’s strongholds, with its Member of Parliament (MP), Nii Lantey Vandepuye, being the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.
Angry executives of the constituency have confronted Mr Vanderpuije, accusing him of being insensitive.
However, speaking on Joy News, the MCE said there was no turning back.
“June 3 drew our attention and strongly affirmed what we have always believed that we need to change that situation. If we don’t act, one day it will rain so excessively that the people living on the saw dust near the Korle Lagoon will be washed away,” he stated.
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The June 3 flood and fire disaster which claimed 159 lives exposed Accra’s weak drainage infrastructure and its vulnerability to floods. The city authorities have since been on the warpath against communities and businesses that have built on water courses, with fuel stations and homes being pulled down, all in an attempt to deal with the situation.
Reason for expanding demolition
Giving reasons for going beyond agreed boundaries, the MCE said the assembly had, over the years in its engagement with the community, asked the people to clear structures within 100 metres of the Korle Lagoon, but the terrain was not as it was envisaged.
“We have maintained that we will work within up to 100 metres. But when we started working, we realised that the 100 metres was stopping within the middle of the Korle Lagoon.
“The machine is even sinking metres from the edge of the 100 metres. Intelligently, we could not stop at the 100 metres. There is the need for us to continue. That is why I called the elders on Sunday morning to tell them that we have to go beyond that because even if we stop at 100 metres, the immediate surroundings will not be safe,” he said
Some residents have already given an indication of rebuilding their structures, but the MCE had a word for them.
“There is no way we will allow anybody to come back. We have so many options to ensure that it does not happen. We are thinking of building a wall around Old Fadama and they can stay there. Another option is that immediately we have to dredge the Korle and remove all saw dust from the part of the Korle we have demolished,” he said.
Sodom and Gomorrah is Ghana's biggest slum and home to an estimated 100,000 squatters. Its roots have been traced to the 1990s when hundreds of people running from the Kokomba and Nanumba civil war settled in the area.
Transport for victims to return home
Over the years, it has developed to an environmental nightmare that has attracted people from all walks of life.
With the assembly insisting that there would be no room for rebuilding structures, Mr Vanderpuije gave the indication that some of the victims of the demolition were ready to return home.
“I have met with the elders and some of them have given indication that they would like to go back. We are making buses available to them, with some amount of money so that they can go back.
“All these years that we have been talking, they have said they don’t want to go back. They said, ‘No, we don’t want to go back, we want to stay here. You can demolish but we want to stay here’. That is not feasible.
“The demolition was a major decision in the life of the country since independence to save lives in Accra,” he said.
Breach of trust
But a community leader, Mr Fred Opoku, accused Mr Vanderpuije of breach of trust.
“We agreed on 50-100 metres and came together for the demolition to be done because seeing 159 people lose their lives is not good.
“We didn’t want the community to be an impediment to dealing with the situation. Unfortunately, what we have seen is 250 metres of demolition. It is a breach of trust,” he said.
He argued that the demolition exercise could cause more deaths compared to lives lost in the June 3 disaster.
“If we don’t take care, the demolition will cause more deaths because women and children are at the mercy of the weather. Nobody is calling the mayor to order. We want to be law abiding; we want to find a solution to the problem; we want to convince them to have a tent to start with,” he added.
Writer’s email:seth.bokpe@graphic.com.gh
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