Prez Mahama hints of demolition of Sodom and Gomorrah
The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, says Accra's sprawling slum, Sodom and Gomorrah, is an indictment on the national capital, and any move to demolish it will not be out of place.
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"It (the slum) is a danger to the people living there and the city," he said, adding that the Accra Metropolitan Assembly( AMA) was going to undertake a sensitisation exercise in the settlement so that demolition could proceed without any problems.
President Mahama made the remark when he inspected work on the dredging of the Korle Lagoon at Korle Gonno in Accra yesterday
The dredging is a collaboration between the AMA and the Ministry of Roads and Highways.
Successive governments have been accused of lacking the political will to demolish the slum.
About three years ago, there was an attempt to resettle the inhabitants to pave way for a demolition, but the move fizzled out.
Sodom and Gomorrah, with an estimated population of 60,000,lies along the banks of the lagoon, and it is one of Africa's biggest slums.
"We necessarily must do something about it," the President said.
Inconsistency
He said the nation had over the years spent a lot of money on the Korle Lagoon Restoration Project but the inability to complete the project had contributed to the flooding in parts of the city.
One of the main objectives of Korle Lagoon Restoration Project is to mitigate perennial flooding in most parts of the capital and address the pollution in the lagoon, which has led to the poor harvest of fish by the fishermen who lived at Korle Gonno and surrounding communities such as Chorkor and James Town.
Carrying through promise
"We promised that we will start the desilting works, and the work is ongoing," President Mahama said.
Thirteen excavators and 29 trucks were engaged in the dredging of the lagoon.
The garbage collected in the lagoon was an eyesore.
Consequently, the President stressed the need for people to take a second look at their attitudes towards the environment.
Reiterating the importance of the dredging, President Mahama stated that "We are not out of the rainy season yet, so let's do the desilting so that, at least, we can be sure that there will not be a repeat of what happened on June 3 and the water will have a smooth channel to flow."
The President had earlier inspected work on the Odaw River dredging project at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle.
Inusah Fuseini
The Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, said all the necessary resources were being mobilised to complete the dredging by December, this year.