As part of activities commemorating this year's International Human Rights Day, officials of the Abibiman Foundation, a non-governmental organization and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) toured some slums in the Tema Metropolis.
The group visited Tema New Town, part of Community Three, and Kpone, to access the living conditions of the residents.
At Community Three, it came to light even though residents pay taxes to the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), they have no access to toilet facilities and electricity and were compelled to defecate indiscriminately in the area.
At Tema New Town, residents had no refuse dumps or an arrangement to cart their refuse.
A number of residents said they dumped their refuse into the Chemu Lagoon, with the intention of reclaiming land so that others can have a
place to stay.
They complained that due to poor drainage systems, the place always flooded whenever there was a downpour.
Residents disclosed that about 15 persons slept in a small kiosk. Miss Mercy Mensah, Tema Sub-Regional Director of CHRAJ, urged civil
society to respect the rights of people.
Miss Mensah noted that whenever there was a climate change, people's rights were seriously affected.
She advised authorities in charge of the development of Tema not to wait for slums to develop before they seek to eject residents since the forceful ejection affected their human rights.
Mr. Kwabena Ofosuhene, Chief Executive Officer of Abibiman Foundation, noted that climate change affected people's rights, especially slum dwellers who found it difficult to afford better places of abode.
He pointed out that slum dwellers had fundamental rights to shelter, settlement and livelihood, so there must be a fair and reliable way of addressing issues concerning them.
He advised dwellers in the slums to move out because the conditions over there made it unfit for human habitation since they negatively affected their development physically, socially, and even psychologically.