NADMO present relief items for TDC demolition exercise victims

By: Benjamin Xornam Glover / Daily Graphic / Ghana | Monday, 27 January 2014

Pix: Officials of NADMO mounting tents for the victims. INSET: Mr Portuphy handing over the relief items to Mr Odamtten, the TMA Chief Executive

Residents of Adjei Kojo whose structures were demolished last week are to benefit from relief items presented to the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) by the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO). Initial assessment by NADMO indicates that more than 800 people from 167 households, mostly women, children and the aged, were displaced after a team of military and police personnel had demolished houses on lands acquired by the TDC for the expansion of Tema. The National Coordinator of NADMO, Mr Kofi Portuphy, handed over the items, made up of 10 tents (each with the capacity to shelter between 10 and 18 people), 300 mats, 400 blankets, 1,000 plastic bowls, three bales of used clothing, mosquito nets and packets of mosquito coil, to the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive, Mr Isaac Ashai Odamtten, for distribution to the affected persons. Mr Odamtten expressed appreciation to NADMO for the swift response which, he said, would help ameliorate the pain and anguish of the displace persons. He admitted that there had been some lapses in the work of some of the members of the task force and pledged to convene a meeting with all stakeholders, including the TDC, to streamline and promote the development of the metropolis. Present were the Tema Coordinator of NADMO, Hajia Zeinab Abdulai, and a former Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Samuel Ofosu- Ampofo, who was the NDC's parliamentary candidate for the affected area in the 2012 general election. Presenting the items, Mr Portuphy explained that the donation was just the initial consignment mobilised in the heat of the moment and indicated that as and when resources became available, more items would be given to the displaced persons, some of whom had been compelled to sleep in the open. Lack of consultation He bemoaned the manner in which the exercise had been carried out, stressing that although the TDC might have the right to carry out such an exercise, NADMO should have been consulted to handle the plight of the internally displaced persons well. Mr Portuphy said while the legalities must be pursued, there was also the need for the application of a human face to the exercise, adding that the TDC could not be absolved of complicity in the sale of lands to individuals in the affected area. He said there was evidence that occupants of the land had paid various sums of money to the TDC and Tema Metropolitan Assembly and wondered what might have prevented the TDC from dialoguing with the occupants and the allodial owners of the land in order to resolve the problem amicably. Mr Ofosu-Ampofo also expressed discontent at the lack of consultation among the TDC, the TMA and agencies such as NADMO when the TDC decided to carry out the demolition exercise. Writer's email: benjamin.glover@ graphic.com.gh http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/16447-nadmo-relief-items-for-tdc-demolition-exercise-victims.html http://graphic.com.gh/nadmo-to-the-rescue-of-stranded-adjei-kojo-residents.html