About 8,000 squatters at the Sodom and Gomorrah slum in Accra could be rendered homeless following plans by the city authorities to evict them to pave way for the Odawna River and Korle Lagoon dredging.
The shacks, according to the Accra mayor Alfred Vanderpuije, must be destroyed so that the dredging could be done without hindrance. The recent devastating floods that destroyed parts of Accra have necessitated the exercise.
But the leadership of the slum said the failure of the Accra mayor to consult the slum dwellers ahead of the dredging could bring dire consequences for those who will be affected.
The Secretary of the Old Fadama Development Association, Frederick Opoku, told Citi News that �they came in to demarcate a place for themselves and they are demarcating almost about 200 meters from the Korle Lagoon and we are talking between 7000 to 8000 households would be affected. �
�We believe that if for anything, those who want to dredge the lagoon probably should have come to meet the leadership of the community. We are not against that exercise at all; we believe that there must be an amicable solution to the problem.
�If they really want something to be done about it, it would be fair and good that those who are the leaders of the community are told so that it would avert any form of fracas between the people and the authorities,� he suggested.
Meanwhile, the Accra mayor has dismissed their concerns adding that the AMA will not be responsible for their relocation.
Vanderpuije said: �In the interest of the larger picture of the community, to avoid any future flooding through the metropolis, we want to do the right thing.
�The right thing is to dredge the lagoon so that water would find its way out so I am saying any structure closer to the lagoon, we will have to clear them in order to make way for the dredging and for the desilting. �
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