The Minister for Works and Housing, Francis Asenso-Boakye, is asking squatters and inhabitants of Kaizer flats at Tema community 4 to vacate immediately for a developmental project on the land to commence.
Mr. Asenso-Boakye noted that the government was handling the matter with dialogue.
“It is important that we engage them first. If force must be applied, that has to be the last resort.”
“They don’t own this place. In looking for a decent place to live, they had to come here. We want to look into the matter and see if there is a way we can also support them.”
His comments follow complaints by the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) that some of the residents have refused to leave despite an earlier deadline.
The exercise is to pave way for new developments after the buildings were declared defective and uninhabitable.
Official residents began moving out in February 2018 after the flats had been earmarked for demolition by the TDC.
At the time, several concerns were raised about the safety of the structures by TDC as they had developed deep cracks with iron rods protruding from the concrete and the plastering peeling off.
Four flats were declared inhabitable, but the occupants had been in court battling the issue out until a definite directive was given by the high court in 2018, directing the occupants to vacate by January 31 of the same year.
The exercise affected 53 children and 134 adults at the time.