Residents at periphery of Korle Lagoon asked to leave

Solomon Darko, Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), on Friday ordered residents living at the periphery of the Korle Lagoon known as Pig Farm, to move before Monday, September 24.

He warned that the AMA would eject them by force if they failed to leave before the deadline.

Mr Darko gave the ultimatum when the parliamentary select committee on Works and Housing paid a familiarisation visit to the Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project (KLERP) site to get a first hand knowledge of progress of work.

He said if the inhabitants refused to vacate the area before the contractors arrive, it would cost the taxpayer about 250,000 dollars a day as a result of the contractors staying idle.

"We will have to pay the contractors this amount each day whether they work or not, once it is within the project period."

The residents had been asked to move two months ago to avoid the use of force. "The area is part of the project site which we need to hand over to the contractors at the earliest possible time," Mr Darko said.

The KLERP contract being executed jointly by Dredging International n.v. of Belgium and Gulf Dredging and General Contracting Company of Kuwait has a total project cost of 65.95 million dollars.

The cost of the three-year project, which started late in 1999, is expected to reach about 73 million dollars with the addition of administrative costs and other expenditures.

Ms Theresa Tagoe, Deputy Minister of Works and Housing, said plans were underway to relocate residents of Sodom and Gomorrah and the Agbobloshie Market at Amasaman to enable the contractors to go on with the project.