The Ivorian government has launched a new wave of “evictions” in Abidjan, the name given to the destruction of informal neighborhoods by public authorities. After the communes of Yopougon and Attécoubé in recent weeks, it was the turn of the scrap dealers’ district of Anoumabo, in Koumassi in the south of Abidjan, on Saturday March 16.
2 mins
With our correspondent in Abidjan, Marine Jeannin
After the passage of excavators, young men search through the rubble looking for cables or pieces of sheet metal that they can resell. Hundreds of occupants, warned by the town hall on Wednesday March 13, had only three days to evacuate their workshops or homes. Kalif Konaté, vice-president of the Association of Ivorian scrap dealers, explains:
“ We didn’t receive any notification, we didn’t have any notice. We learned about it on social networks. We don’t have the means to anticipate. What we can remove directly, we remove. What we can’t, we leave to them, they will come and demolish it. What is certain, we were only told ”just prepare yourself for the day after tomorrow, because the day after tomorrow is all the rest that we’re going to take”. »
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The government adopted this week support measures for the “evicted”, including a rehousing plan and compensation. Insufficient measures, judges civil society activist Pulchérie Gbalet, who founded a coalition of NGOs and “refugees”:
“ The first measure says that we will give 250,000 francs to each household. And what do these 250,000 francs do? With 250,000 francs, today in Abidjan, you can only stay in a precarious neighborhood. So, we move people to send them where we are going to move them again. It does not make sense. This is waging war on the poor! »
The coalition has started to identify affected populations to enable them to seek compensation or legal recourse. The Anoumabo scrap dealers continue to save what can be saved, while waiting for the excavators to return next Monday.