US city on verge of state takeover
Michigan seeks to bypass Detroit politicians and appoint emergency financial manager for city saddled with $14bn debt.
Published On 12 Mar 2013
Time is running out for politicans in Detroit trying to avoid a plan being imposed on them, to prevent the city from going bankrupt.
Detroit was once known as Motown, the centre of the US car industry and the heart of American soul music. But now the city is in more than $14bn debt, after it suffered a dramatic depopulation.
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During the past 50 years the number of people living there has halved.
Detriot is in Michigan and the state wants to bypass the city’s politicans, to appoint an emergency financial manager who would have the power to sell assets and rewrite contracts.
The city has already taken measures to avoid going bust – by cutting employees’ salaries and laying off public workers.
Al Jazeera’s Diane Eastabrook reports from Detroit.
Source: Al Jazeera