2 Weeks For Sodom & Gomorrah

Inhabitants of Old Fadama, also known as Sodom and Gomorrah, and others served with eviction notices have only two weeks to vacate the slum to their new abode, according to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. Speaking on the Floor of Parliament yesterday, Deputy Minister of Local Governments and Rural Development, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah told the House that a six-month ultimatum had been given to the inhabitants and it is left with two weeks for the time to elapse. The Deputy Minister was responding to a question posed by the MP or Atwima Mponua, Isaac Kwame Asiamah on measures the Ministry has put in place to ensure that people do not suffer unduly as a result of the decongestion exercise to be embarked upon by the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) According to Mr. Afriyie Ankrah, plans are far advanced to relocate and integrate some traders of the old Fadama slum at Amasaman. He said the Ministry has drawn lessons from previous decongestion exercises and would therefore take precautionary measures to ensure that vulnerable people would not suffer. As a first step, Mr. Afriyie Ankrah indicated that residents of affected areas have been issued removal notices and educated on the need for them to leave willingly. On what concrete plans the Ministry has put in place to find alternative places for traders on the streets of Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi and Accra who have been asked to leave the streets where they sell within two weeks, the Deputy Minister said the aforementioned Metropolitan Assemblies have established hawkers and satellites markets spread across their areas of jurisdiction. He however pointed out, �All these facilities are highly underutilized because hawkers find it easier plying their trade on the streets.