Kumasi mayor courts support from Assembly members to demolish slums

The Metropolitan Chief Executive for Kumasi, Osei Assibey Antwi, is rallying the support of assembly and unit committee members to embark on an exercise to pull down emerging slums in the metropolis to save lives.

The Kumasi Mayor has observed slums are fast springing up in almost every sub-metro, particularly erection of accommodation and trading structures on wetlands around the city.

“This should not be allowed since such areas experience severe flooding during the rainy season and might result in deaths,” said the Mayor as he addressed the 3rd Ordinary Meeting of 2nd Session of the 7th Assembly meeting in Kumasi.

Recent rains have exposed parts of the city to flooding, leading to loss of lives and property in some instances. Affected areas include Ahinsan, Bohyen, Ahodwo-Daaban, Brepo Junction and Adwoato, where the flood broke down bridges and washed away bitumen on roads.

The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) has expressed grave concern about the indiscriminate building on waterways in the city.

Environmentalists have also prevailed on city authorities to enforce by-laws on siting of buildings.

Mr. Assibey Antwi wants the support of the assembly members to address the illegal constructions to enable the KMA achieve its medium term development plan.

“The new and emerging slums must be demolished immediately, that is a charge that we are informing members in this assembly and as such informing all the sub-metros that, we sit at the various sub-metros where we have all the key players who can solve the problem by being pragmatic,” he noted.