Floods: Attempt by govt to bulldoze illegal structures shouldn’t be seen as political – Egyapa Mercer
“I think it is long overdue, we are always reacting. We know that when the rains come there the consequences, it is important that we are more proactive in these matters. It is not like this is new, you see newspapers from 1960 that tell us that Accra is flood prone.
Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer has said any move by the government to flatten unauthorized buildings especially those are situated in waters ways should not be seen as political.
He said if the opposition tries to take political advantage from the situation and play on the emotions of the affected persons by making all sort of promises to them, the government will also be forced to look at it from the political perspective.
This, he said, will not benefit the country.
Speaking on the New Day show on TV3 Tuesday May 24, regarding the floods that occurred early Tuesday that devastated homes and other properties, the Deputy Minister of Energy said while notified that the Lands Minister has ordered the demolition of unauthorized buildings “I think it is long overdue, we are always reacting. We know that when the rains come there the consequences, it is important that we are more proactive in these matters. It is not like this is new, you see newspapers from 1960 that tell us that Accra is flood prone.
“So you would expect our engineers, our local authorities to then ensure that you do not give permits to people to build in places that are clearly inappropriate.
“But some underhand dealings obviously influence the kind of decisions that public officers take, I don’t think it ought to continue. Your singular act creates huge problems for the entire community. I hope that any action to demolish properties that are in water ways will not take on the usual political game that we want to play.
“I am sure that you know that when attempts are being made to de-congest some parts of the City, it becomes a political issue, the opposition then quickly takes advantage of the emotions of the affected persons and go making all sort of political promises , that then invariable ends to get some reactions from government as well because seeking to do the public good ought not to necessarily lead to some political cost.”
Source: 3news.com|Ghana
