Squatters: Demolition of Sodom&Gomorrah, figment of imagination

Squatters at Sodom and Gomorrah say they are unconvinced that gov�t will carry out his decision to demolition the area, as gov�t lacks the willpower to do so. According to the squatters, every gov�t that immediately assumes the reins of power, threatens to carry out a demolition exercise of the area, yet it never materializes. They have however, appealed to the NDC gov�t to offer them a re-settlement package, in the event that a demolition of the place does happen. The Accra Metropolitan Assembly has already served notice that it would evict the over 40,000 slum dwellers without any form of compensation or relocation as earlier planned. The Greater Regional Minister, Hon. Nii Armah Ashietey, on Thursday, September 3rd, labelled the place a security risk which has to be pulled down, after a 3hour tour of the area, together with some newsmen. PEACEFM�s reporter Nana Yaa Brefo who visited the place to familiarize herself with conditions of living of the dwellers, says some squatters who have lived there all their lives, have structures they hire out as rooms, for a fee of 8 Ghana cedis per week. Wofa Owusu Ansah is an indigene of Kwahu in the Eastern Region, but has lived in the area for more than 16 years with his family. He shares with us some of the going-ons in the vicinity. �A lot of criminal activities take place here, it�s a known fact, but they are perpetrated by some unscrupulous people. Prostitution is practiced here�drug peddling is another daily occurrence,� he revealed. A walking distance away from Sodom and Gomorrah, is the Konkomba Market. Nana Yaa Brefo also spoke to some children at the Konkomba market, who shuddered at the mention of Sodom and Gomorrah. �Trading is very brisk here, but there are many dangers. Should gov't sack us from this place and offers us a better alternative, i'll go..if someone approaches you with an offer of a love relationship and you refuse, the next instant, it degenerates into fighting and blood-shedding� fighting is common nature to the youth here,� they said. Originally called Old Fadama or Ayaalolo, the now sprawling slum within the Central Business District of Accra, became a shelter for some displaced northerners fleeing the Konkomba and the Nanumba war in the 1980s.