A demolition exercise at Mensah Guinea, a slum behind the Arts Center in Accra, has been halted following a passionate appeal from the assembly member for the area, Henry Kotey.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) gave the residents a three-day ultimatum to vacate the area due to the poor insanitary conditions in the area which is believed to have contributed to the recent Cholera outbreak in the Metropolis.
About 90 people have lost their lives while more than 10,000 cases of cholera have been recorded across the country with the Greater Accra Region being the worst hit.
A team of AMA officials and heavily armed Police on Friday stormed the area to demolish some structures but the exercise was later halted due to an intervention by the assemblyman.
Mr. Kotey pleaded for more time from the AMA to allow the residents to relocate. He told Citi News, his pleaded on behalf of the victims because they had no place to lay their heads.
“A lot of people have come here because of work and we’ve allowed them to stay. So far as we’ve allowed them to stay, we have to see how to go about things right now,” he intimated.
He assured that they will organize clean-up exercise to sanitize the vicinity from filth.
“It’s just for a short time. We will organize ourselves and then do whatever they [AMA] want us to do for them so that the cholera will be eradicated from the community. In our own way, we can organize ourselves and whatever structure they want us to take off we will do it ourself,” he added.
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By: Godwin Allotey Akweiteh/citifmonline.com/Ghana