AMA demolishes make-shift structures along Odawna railway
More than 50 illegal make-shift structures along the Odawna railway line have been pulled down by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) on Tuesday.
Advertisement
The exercise, which took place on Tuesday and supervised by some police and military personnel, including members of the AMA special task force, saw a bulldozer pulling down illegal structures and mini-food vending kiosks.
The exercise exposed some illegal electricity and water connections to wooden structures, drinking bars, and other facilities.
Sleeping places, bathhouses, kitchens, drinking bars, chop bars, barbering shops, fitting shops and other structures which served as places of abode, trading posts, as well as hide-outs for criminals, including ‘wee’ and other narcotic drug peddlers were all pulled down.
Some squatters and food vendors who were caught unawares during the exercise put up a brave effort and rushed to salvage what was left of their possessions, while others looked on confused and helpless as to what to do.
Those who had limited time to gather what they could were supported by friends and acquaintances around to, in haste, pack their belongings before the bulldozer could get to them.
Some squatters who also sensed danger during the swoop pulled a fast one on the security personnel. They passed some black plastic bags suspected to contain Indian hemp (wee) to one another and bolted.
Others who could not immediately find a place to hide their belongings went to store what they could gather in a transformer nearby but were immediately forced to remove them when the security personnel and the AMA task force noticed them.
Background to the exercise
Some time in July last year, the AMA pulled down all illegal structures along the Odaw Railway Line in an effort to decongest the city and also reduce flooding in the city any time it rained.
That followed a heavy rainfall on June 3, 2015 that killed 159 people and destroyed properties worth thousands of cedis.
The demolition of the illegal structures formed part of the effort by the AMA to avert more disasters in the near future.
However, some nine months after the exercise, some squatters had begun to put up temporary structures along the Railway Line, creating congestion and destroying the landscape.
Presently, the construction of the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Interchange has forced some commercial vehicles to use a section of the railway line as their temporary station.
Other structures mounted along the banks of the Korle Lagoon to serve as cattle ranch were also destroyed.
Shocked but not surprised
Speaking to some affected shop owners after the demolition, Madam Charity Mensah, who owned a provision shop, said although the exercise came as a shock to her, she was not surprised because she had always had a feeling that the assembly would come back to sack them.
Sylvia Nana, a bar owner who was unfortunate to have been the first to be affected by the demolition, said it was unfair for the task force to have demolished her shop without giving her any notice.
Interference
Meanwhile, a similar exercise that was intended to be carried out along the banks of the Chemu Lagoon in the Ablekuma South Constituency did not see the light of day following an interference from the Assembly Member for the area, Mr Derrick Myers.
According to him, an uncompleted church facility had been served with a March 5, 2016 ultimatum to get it demolished or face the wrath of the assembly.
Mr Myers, who is also the Sub-Metro Coordinator of the area and pastor, said he had held a meeting with the council of churches in the area and the council had agreed to demolish the building by the said date.
Meanwhile, a structure that had been served a July 19, 2015 notice located beside the church was demolished.
Advertisement
The Public Relations Officer of the AMA, Numo Blafo III, said the assembly would do all it could to ensure that the city did not experience a repetition of the June 3, 2016 disaster and advised those who had mounted structures without permission from the assembly to remove them before they were caught.