‘Demolition of unauthorised structures will be given human face’
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) will follow due processes to ensure that the road map that has been initiated to remove unauthorised structures in some parts of the capital city does not bring untold hardship to residents of the affected areas, the Chief Executive of the AMA, Mr Mohammed Adjei Sowah, has stated.
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The AMA, he said, would not be forced to succumb to any form of pressure to give a political face to its intended demolition exercise.
Mr Sowah was speaking to journalists when he led a delegation from the AMA on a tour of some parts of Accra last Saturday as part of the observance of the National Sanitation Day (NSD).
The delegation, which included the Coordinating Director of the AMA, Mr Sam Ayeh-Datey, and the Presiding Member, Mr Thomas Mustapha Ashong, visited Odawna, Agbogbloshie and Abossey Okai, where they joined residents to clean up those areas.
Mr Sowah said the use of force and other crude tactics to carry out demolition exercises in this modern era was improper, “because, as human beings, we need to approach issues with a human face”.
“We are adopting a holistic approach by engaging with various stakeholders, especially those who are at the centre of the illegal structures that are springing up in some parts of the city, to comprehensively carry out the exercise,” he added.
Background
The AMA issued a press release on March 21, directing that all unauthorised structures in some parts of the city were to be removed with immediate effect.
It asked occupants of the illegal structures, particularly those situated on government reserved lands in areas along the Odaw River, the Korle Lagoon, Old Fadama, the East Legon Green Belt, and Mensah Guinea, among other areas, to leave immediately.
The directive also asked hawkers who had turned the underpass of foot and overhead bridges into trading points to stop their activities with immediate effect, citing the Road Traffic (Amendment) Act, 2008 (Act 761, Section 29 (2) to back its order.
Public education
Mr Sowah said the assembly was more concerned about public education that would engender attitudinal change, which would then be followed with action.
“An illegality is an illegality and should never be condoned,” he stressed, but pointed out that he had been appointed by the President to serve the interest of all residents of Accra.
For that reason, he said, there was the need for a holistic approach to ensure that illegal structures were removed, so that all residents of the city would be safe from the devastating effects of floods.
He said it was also important that while efforts were made to remove illegal structures, members of the public managed waste in the appropriate manner.
The chief executive hinted that the AMA would provide sanitation equipment to facilitate the easy participation of residents in clean-up exercises, after which the indiscriminate dumping of refuse would not be countenanced.
Observations
What was common in all the areas visited were piles of refuse, choked gutters and stench emanating from waste that had been dumped on the shoulders of the road.
At Agbogbloshie and Odawna, residents and traders went about their activities, oblivious of the clean-up exercise.
The situation was different at Abossey Okai, where residents and spare parts dealers had closed their shops and were actively participating in the exercise.
Most of the people the Daily Graphic interacted with in the areas visited said they had developed a lukewarm attitude to the NSD because politicians and city authorities had not demonstrated enough commitment to the exercise.
“The city authorities and politicians always come here to take pictures but have not taken any bold steps to address the challenges here. See, the major drains here are blocked,” a 52-year-old resident of Odawna, Mr Kwame Atta, complained.