Spatial justice in Portee-Rokupa

My name is Abdulai Kanu. I live at Portee-Rokupa, in the eastern part of the country [city]. Basically it’s a slum area– a very deprived area, and much vulnerable to the community. And the Portee-Rokupa– it’s basically in two zones, we have the formal part and the informal part. The formal part – basically, it’s more exposed to different facilities. And the informal part – this is so deprived. And the people are deprived just because of having some facilities within the particular area, flooding affecting them, landslide, and even rockfall in the community. And the informal part of the Portee-Rokupa – they are very deprived.

There are certain facilities, having some facility within the area – a tap, a borehole, and even other facilities within the formal settlement. If they want to have some facilities within the informal settlement – they have to use a detour right around, to come above the formal settlement, to get the tap water, a public toilet, and even a borehole. In the formal settlement– there is road access there, but not [as] good as within the city level. Down the slope, there is no road access– no motor vehicle to go down here. The only way is by foot. All the access within the community, or within the slum community – they access it up, to the formal settlement.

If they want to use the hospital, the school, they come up to the formal settlement. In the Portee-Rokupa, the access to services, the difference is, there is no facility within the informal settlement. All of the facilities [are] based in the formal settlement. And in the community, there must be a difference between that. For example, as I mentioned them, the borehole, the tap water, the community toilets, and a community hall – all based in the formal settlement. And those who live in the informal settlement, they find it very difficult. All it is, is they detour to come upstairs, to come have some facilities within the formal settlement.