Kumasi, May 26, GNA - The Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) has expressed worry about the growing slums in the Metropolis and has vowed to tackle the problem head-on.

Mr Clement Kegeri of the Public Relations Unit of the Assembly said the rate at which shanty settlements were springing up was totally unacceptable and could not be allowed to continue. He said places such as Bombay, Sodom and Gomorrah, Angola and the CBD, which had been built by squatters, would be leveled. He told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Kumasi on Wednesday that the Assembly would be ruthless and bring all those, who flout the KMA bye-laws to justice.

The pledge came on the heels of the destruction of about 80 illegal wooden structures at Sodom and Gomorrah by the KMA Task Force on Tuesday, May 25, 2010. It was the second time in three years that the Assembly had carried out demolition of structures at the slum, but the squatters appear determined not to vacate the place.

Mr Kegeri said there was no way they were going to allow anyone to stand between the restoration of Kumasi to its past scenic beauty and the promotion of socio-economic growth. Some of the areas seized by the squatters, he said, had been earmarked for development projects. The illegal settlements were not only providing sanctuary for criminals, but because they had been built along water ways and are responsible for flooding in the Metropolis. He said the Assembly would stay the course of the decongestion exercise it had embarked on. 26 May 10