The Minister for Works and Housing, Samuel Atta Akyea, has been criticised for saying government’s agenda to give slums a facelift will ensure that residents of Nima will for the first time in their lives have access to flushing toilet facilities.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, Mr. Atta Akyea said the Nana Addo government will make sure that Nima and other slums in the country are redeveloped.
He said government’s agenda to give a facelift to slums will begin with Nima, adding that residents will for the first time be using flushing toilets, just like their counterparts in areas like East Legon.
“Mr Speaker, there’s a slum upgrading which is about happening, that’s the Nima area. We wouldn’t want to pay lip service to the fact that we have some Ghanaians who are living in slums.
“We are going, to begin with, Nima and give Nima a facelift and for the first time we will see the good people of Nima flushing toilets like anybody will do in East Legon,” the Minister said.
However, his comments did not sit well with the Member of Parliament for Ayawaso North Yusif Jajah, whose jurisdiction Nima is sited.
Accra-based Starr FM reports that Mr. Jaja stormed out of the House of Parliament to pour his dissatisfaction over the Housing Minister’s statement.
He demanded that the Minister apologises to residents of Nima, insisting his comments were disrespectful to people living in the area.
“This is an insult on the Nima community and we demand an apology from him,” Jaja said. “We are calling him [Works and Housing Minister] to withdraw that statement,” the Ayawaso North MP told the media.
Meanwhile, Mr. Atta Akyea insists his comments were not derogatory and described the call for him to apologise as “pathetic”.
“If he [Ayawaso North MP] doesn’t want Nima to have the facility in East Legon then he hates Ghana and it is pathetic,” the Housing Minister stated.
