"Sodom & Gomorrah Stalling Korle Project"-AMA

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) is accusing squatters at Sodom and Gomorrah of stalling the Korle Lagoon Drainage and Restoration Project. The AMA Chief Executive, Dr. Alfred Vanderpuiye, who was assigning reasons for the lack of progress at the project site, bemoaned the amount of resources committed into the project for the past 10 years. �We are pumping money (into this project) and then we�ve another gateway pumping rubbish and feces (back) into the lagoon. Much resources have been wasted�even our donor partners are accusing us of high level of irresponsibility�That is the main reason why the project has stalled. They are putting up structures, buildings and expanding into the lagoon,� he said rather exasperatedly in an interview on Peacefm�s �Kokrokoo.� Dr. Alfred Vanderpuiye described the sanitary conditions at Sodom and Gomorrah as appalling and not suitable for human habitation and called for cooperation during the impending exercise. He said his outfit will not shoulder the responsibility of providing accommodation or any form of compensation to dwellers of Sodom and Gomorrah when they are finally evicted. According to Dr. Alfred Vanderpuiye, the AMA will not kowtow to any form of pressure to add a �human face� approach when the eviction time is due. �There is no compensation whatsoever to be paid to these squatters. There is no budget to compensate the nearly 50,000 people, who will be rendered homeless. Look, we�ve areas in Accra urgently requiring development assistance like schools, hospitals, etc� where they will relocate shouldn�t lie with me alone�there are so many rental places in town so they can go there,� he stressed.