Ghana: Chinese-funded harbour redevelopment leaves locals in limbo due to Covid

Accra’s iconic Jamestown Harbour has been demolished in recent months in a project funded by the Chinese government to transform the beauty spot into an industrial port.

The project has supposedly been funded by a $60 million grant from the Chinese backers in 2018, as they strengthen their ties to West African trade routes.

When work officially started late last month, however, eyebrows were raised at the ruthlessness of the demolition project. Some 300 homes have been destroyed including those of Jamestown’s poorest inhabitants, while schools, shops and other local infrastructure have all been pulled to the ground.

Jobs had been promised in the construction and development of the new Jamestown Harbour, which included a new fish processing factory, offices and the expansion of the port.

All construction has now been halted, however, due to Ghana’s outbreak of Covid-19. This has left locals in a hellish limbo, having been evicted from their former homes and with no source of income to provide for their families. 

To make matters worse, sanitary conditions have deteriorated due to the demolition of individual homes, making the Jamestown locals vulnerable to Covid-19.  

Whilst Ghanaian officials assure locals that they will be compensated for lost property with new employment once work is completed, others, like Naa Borkor Quartey from the JayNii Streetwise Foundation say that they can’t wait: “the men [from Jamestown] don’t have any jobs, they come here, they hustle to get food” (speaking to VoA). 

If Ghana can control the virus, work will continue soon but some argue that it will be too little too late. 

Photo: Flickr