Abidjan, Ivory Coast (IRIN) – The Côte d’Ivoire government is demolishing shops and makeshift stalls in a bid to clean up the main city, Abidjan, but the operation is causing concern about how those affected will cope as the country is still reeling from post-election turmoil, observers say.
Many of those affected had been chased off public property in the past and “Operation Clean Nation” – enforcing a decree dating from 2008 – has not come as a shock; still, hundreds of families have now lost their livelihoods.
“When you look at the condition of those [being forced away], it’s very clear that in the short term poverty will increase,” Ivoirian sociologist Kevin Attien Attien told IRIN.
He said more should have been done to ensure the damage does not outweigh the benefits of the Urban Sanitation Ministry-led operation. The ministry says it has allocated about 2.8 billion CFA francs (US$6.1 million) to remove 200,000 tons of rubbish clogging Abidjan’s streets.
“There have been several efforts to clean up before, and they fail because for these people, selling on the roadside is a question of survival,” Attien Attien said. “There has been no campaign to prevent people from feeling victimized or address the psychological fallout. They’ve not been given any other means to pursue their commerce – all these things need to be addressed for the project to work properly.”
Economist Pirus Dje estimated tens of thousands of people would be directly affected by the clean-up, with severe consequences for their dependents.
Urban Sanitation Minister Anne Ouloto said the project, which has been applauded by many Ivoirians, is ridding the commercial capital of breeding grounds for disease and crime.
Corruption
The action has also laid bare longstanding corrupt practices: More than a dozen of those affected told IRIN they paid monthly rent to municipal officials who, they said, often did not supply official receipts.
The enterprises being affected range from plastic tables to wooden shacks cinder-block buildings.
Akemane (who gave just her first name) has lost a stationery and photocopying shop she ran in Abidjan’s Riviera District.
“I’ve been here more than 10 years,” she told IRIN. “For all that time we’ve been paying 1,000 CFA francs ($2.19) per square meter per month to the city council, yet now there’s no talk of compensation.”
A government official who spoke on condition of anonymity would not comment on possible corruption, saying only that municipal officials had been lax. “The situation flourished precisely because of the city councils, who neglected their responsibilities.” He said it was not up to the federal government to pursue or prosecute corrupt municipal offices.
As for people who have lost everything, the official said: “Their recourse is ultimately the city council. If they’re unhappy with them, they need to organize themselves and talk to their councils.”
Compensation?
Municipal offices contacted by IRIN said there were no plans for compensation. “It’s not even in our budgets,” spokesman Edmond Aoli said.
Soro Kadjia, 53, is one worker who regularly got official receipts from the mayor’s office proving that he had paid for the spot where he worked as a carpenter. But he is in no better position than others.
“Just before the [election] crisis, we paid six months rent, but we [were able to work] for only one month of that time. The elections were so damaging; we need more time,” he told IRIN as he watched bulldozers crush his roadside shack in the Deux Plateaux District.
“We know it has to be done but it’s painful. They [state officials] came only two days [before] to confirm they’d be here today.”
An official with the Urban Sanitation Ministry said for some three months before the operation government workers had met city councils, who are responsible for giving notice in their respective districts.
“Each time we arrive at the scene, people plead with us for more time,” the official said. “But this is Africa. They will never leave if not forced.”
“Kicked off like animals” is the way Madeleine Tanou* puts it. A shoe seller in the vast market in Adamé District, she said: “There are hundreds of families dependent on income here… We voted in this government for jobs and they’re taking away our jobs.”
People like Tanou for years have illegally installed themselves on roads in Adjamé and other districts, hustling as best they could to make a few dollars. In many areas of Abidjan roads meant for vehicles have been rendered impassable by informal markets.
Sociologist Attien Attien said the cycle is likely to continue. “You cannot just move people and hope they won’t come back. What action is being taken to make sure the rules are followed this time around? If conditions remain the same, the same thing repeats itself.”
Officials and traders told IRIN many people were simply returning to set up shop behind the new lines.
(*not her real name)
mm/np/cb
– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.
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