Encroachment within the Sakumono Ramsar Site near Tema shows no sign of ending, as development of residential facilities spring up along the core part of the site.
To this end, the Greater Accra Regional Minister-designate, Titus Glover has warned that, the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) will take all the necessary processes and strategies to clamp down on the menace.
He described ongoing encroachment activities within the site as “reckless abuse and threat to human life.”
He was speaking to the Ghanaian Times yesterday during a tour of the Tema and Sakumono Ramsar sites.
Although Mr Glover did not confirm the nature of the steps and processes that would be taken to curb the encroachment, he said, the REGSEC would consider all options including demolition of structures.
“I’m disturbed by the encroachment on the water way. My observation that the encroachment is just reckless abuse and threat to human life. Right from Community 12, 11, 10 and 6, there have been wanton encroachment of sites,” he stated.
The Minister-designate said, the Greater Accra Coordinating Council and the REGSEC were determined to tackle encroachment in conservative spaces and “ensure the right thing is done.”
The REGSEC, in response to the current situation, he noted, had taken the decision to regularise some portions of the encroached lands to allow for development.
Mr Glover charged the Forestry Commission to commence the process for regularisation of parts of sites earmarked for the development.
“None of the encroachers have title to the lands they occupy. Only the Forestry Commission can correspond with the Lands Commission to produce a title for the land they have developed. Currently, they have no document to show that they are the owners of the land,” he said.
He reiterated the REGSEC’s commitment to working with all the stakeholders, including the Tema Metropolitan Assembly and Tema West Municipal Assembly to protect the core and buffer parts of the sites.
The Chief Executive of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA), Yohane Amarh Ashitey, said the Assembly had deployed a taskforce to clamp down on encroachment at unauthorized places within the metropolis.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS
