AMA walks the talk, destroys sex workers hub at Circle after TV3 exposé

Few weeks after TV3’s exposé on the activities of commercial sex workers close to the Kwame Nkrumah interchange, the Accra Metropolitan Assembly has demolished the slum including the brothels. The demolition along the rail lines at Odawna started at about 6: 30 am on Thursday morning. Some residents appeared to have complied with the eviction notice and had packed out ahead of the exercise. Their structures had earlier been set ablaze to probably disorient the taskforce, but the fire service responded swiftly to the call douse the blaze. Within two hours the once vibrant sex market was flattened. The exercise was as a result of a TV3 news exclusive aired on December 21, last year which revealed the nefarious activities of commercial sex workers and other criminals. The area close to Kwame Nkrumah interchange  had become a hub for commercial sex workers with more than one thousand five hundred scattered structures used as brothels. The Accra Metropolitan Assembly chief executive Mohammed Adjei Sowah and the Railways Minister Joe Ghartey who were both alarmed after the exposé promised to act. “We promise the Ghanaian public that the city authorities are going to work on the issues and make sure we get rid of all the ills in the area,” Mohammed Adjei Sowah had assured the public. It’s been three weeks since the assurance, and the authorities have taken action. Director of Operations at the Greater Accra Regional command, Chief Superintendent Kwesi Ofori who was at the grounds of the demolition exercise said the police will continue monitoring the place to ensure the structures are not re-erected. Two years ago, a similar exercise was conducted by the assembly under the leadership of Alfred Oko Vanderpuije but the squatters resettled in the area. The June 3 flood and fire disaster in the area could not scare the slum dwellers to move away from the area. Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry is expected to take over the area with immediate effect and start its intended re-development project. By Kwabena Adu-Gyamfi |  3news.com | Ghana    ]]>