Parts of Sodom and Gomorrah to be demolished, Saturday

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Parts of the biggest slum in the capital, Accra, infamously referredto
as "Sodom and Gomorrah" will by tomorrow be no more.
This is because a taskforce from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, with
support from the security services are expected to take earth moving
equipment to the area to demolish structures which for years have
served as homes for thousands of migrants mostly from the Northern
Region.
Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo who confirmed
the intended demolition to Joy News said the squatters close to the
Odaw river will have their structures demolished.
The threat to demolish follows theJune 3 twin flood and fire disaster
which claimed more than 150 lives.
Critics have accused officials of the AMA of failing to desilt the
Odaw river which serves as a point of convergence for many drains in
the capital.
Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo said it is time for one of the biggest
culprits-residents of Sodom and Gomorrah- who choke the Odaw river
with sawdust and other filthy materials to be removed.
He said city authorities have shown sympathy and love for some of
these residents over the years but that sympathy has been taken for
granted.
"We have been accused based on the love [we have shown]. We haveno
time again to waste and there is no better time to start than now," he
told Joy News' Francis Abban.
But the residents are appealing to the authorities to relocate them.
They say they have nowhere else to go if their structures are
demolished. Others have also vowed to resist the demolition tomorrow.
Properly referred to as the Old Fadama, the area, the size of about 10
football fields has been home to many migrants who fled the Kokomba
Nanumba war in Northern Region in the early 90s.
The area is drenched in filth with many ramshacle wooden structures
which serve as homes for the migrants littered across the slum.
The area is widely thought to be a den of criminals even though there
are genuine hardworking individuals also living at the same place.
The occupation of the land by, and activities of, the illegal settlers
have mostly interfered with the progress of the restoration of the
Odaw river project which has stalled for years.
Credit: Myjoyonline.com