The Agbogbloshie slum, popularly known as Sodom and Gomorrah, and other slums in the capital will see a face-lift in a special project to be spearheaded by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.
The sector Minister, Julius Debrah revealed this on the Citi Breakfast Show on Friday.
He said government will replicate a programme adopted by Brazil to ensure that places like Agbogbloshie and other slums in Accra will see gradual upgrade.
[contextly_sidebar id=”7GvpfWgKGqtMGZ2kCEmjL2acgYXMwrGG”]Agbogboloshie; a former wetland in Accra is now a slum and has also become home to the world’s largest electronic waste dumping site.
Sanitation in the area is also appalling. “It’s true I must admit that it shouldn’t have happened but it has happened. Just as I said we shouldn’t engage in blame game,” he opined.
The slam covers approximately four acres and is situated on the banks of the Korle Lagoon, northwest of Accra’s Central Business District with about 40,000 inhabitants, most of whom are migrants from rural areas.
Due to its harsh living conditions and rampant crime, the area is nicknamed “Sodom and Gomorrah.”
According to the Local Government Minister “we have a programme coming up where we have identified some of the slum areas including Agbogbloshie to try and upgrade it.”
“When I went to Brazil what we found out is that, there is a whole area that is in this kind of situation…they gradually start constructing what looks like flats for land good usage. So once they build these flats they convince occupants of a particular area who can afford to shift them into occupying that structure,” he said.
The minister further explained that the programme was very beneficial to the Brazilians because “they could use a very simple sizable portion of land to construct a high rise structure that could accommodate a lot people, then they will end up having more space for other things.”
He however assured of his determination to have the project replicated in Ghana.
“I am determined to leave a mark and I don’t just say the words I’m saying to score political points.”
In a related development, Mr Julius Debrah revealed that the dump site for Accra’s liquid waste, lavender Hill, will be closed down by the end of December 2014.
“I am aware that by December that place must be shut down,” he affirmed.
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By: Gertrude Nartey/citifmonline.com/Ghana