AMA rejects move by Sodom and Gomorrah Squatters to give the place a facelift

Accra, July 11, GNA - The Environmental Management Sub-Committee of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) on Monday said the facelift being given Sodom and Gomorrah by the squatters was illegal.

Mr Phillip Nii Lante Lamptey, Chairman, said the very basis of the occupation of the inhabitants was illegal hence they could not continue to undertake projects there.

Squatters at Sodom and Gomorrah are said to be giving the slum a new face by the creation 15 access roads and purchasing of drainage materials at a cost of 33 million cedis. They are being assisted by People's Dialogue on Human Settlement, a non-governmental organisation. Mr Lamptey said the occupation of the squatters on that parcel of land was one of the major causes for the delay of the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project.

"The place is not conducive for human settlement and any move to give it a face lift would be stopped," he said, adding that the AMA had its own plans for the place and the squatters would be moved out whenever the AMA was ready to deal with them.

Mr Lamptey said the best the NGO could have done to assist the squatters was to help to resettle them elsewhere since their occupation of that land was illegal.

"What the NGO is doing, is just like stabbing AMA at its back. The Committee will meet all concerned technocrats on Thursday to decide on the next line of action," he said.