For over a year now, the Rivers State Government, residents of the Port Harcourt Waterfront and rights groups have engaged one another in a debate on the proposed demolition of the slums. CHUKWUDI AKASIKE examines the scenario and concludes that the current administration in the state may soon roll out the bulldozers to the area
There is no doubting the fact that one of the most essential needs of man is housing and that is why when the availability of such facility is threatened, those concerned cry to high heavens. This is the situation that the residents of the popular Port Harcourt Waterfront have found themselves since the current administration of Governor Rotimi Amaechi declared its intention to demolish the waterside buildings.
Before the move to roll out the bulldozers to the Waterfront, past governments at all levels had deliberately neglected the housing sector. This development had made every Nigerian to find individual solution to their accommodation problem. The personal efforts toward getting a roof over ones head sometimes give rise to slums and shanties. That of the Waterfront may not be an exception.
Though, the argument had always been that residents of the area were comfortable with the environment due to its proximity to the waterways, the Rivers State Government had continued to maintain its stance that the Waterfront was not fit for human beings. If such a remark made any sense to some of those residing in the heart of the state capital, inhabitants of the Waterfront never cared about how conducive the environment was and is still to them. All they wanted was a roof over their heads.
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