Don’t settle displaced people on our land — CSIR
WORKERS of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on Friday hit the streets of Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region to protest what they described as “an attempt by the Ga West Municipal Assembly to give the institute’s land to the displaced residents of Sodom and Gomorrah.”
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Numbering about 500, the workers, wearing red armbands and holding placards, marched through the principal streets of Amasaman and converged on the 19 acres where the displaced residents of Sodom and Gomorrah would settle.
Some of the placards they carried read: “We will not allow it,” “ Why our research Land” “Our work is critical,” “Give us our land.”
The workers chanted war slogans and sang declaring their intention to fight any attempt by the government to offer CSIR’s land to any group.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Officer in charge of the Animal Research Institute Division of CSIR, Dr Charles Domozoro, said the parcel of land was for pasture and livestock research where two breeds of cattle were under study.
Background
On Saturday, June 27, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) demolished more than 100 illegal structures along the banks of the Odaw River and the Korle Lagoon believed to have contributed to the June 3 floods in Accra.
The exercise, which was carried out under heavy security presence, rendered the slum dwellers homeless, while makeshift shops were also destroyed.
The objective of the demolition was to expand the natural borders of the Korle Lagoon to prevent further silting and allow the water to flow.
However, the Municipal Chief Executive of Ga West Municipal Assembly, Mr Sam Atukwei Quaye, in an interview with and Accra-based radio station, Joy Fm, said government was eyeing a new site at Pokuase to resettle the displaced residents.
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But CSIR, which owns the land, is kicking against the move.
More resistance
Mr Domozoro said the CSIR would resist the assembly’s attempt because they had enough documents to back their claim to the land.
According to him, CSIR was undertaking research on the land which would be destroyed if the displaced residents moved there.