The Director of Parks and Gardens, Adam Nantogma, has revealed to The Chronicle that the Akuapem South District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, rejected about three acres of land his outfit proposed to the Assembly for the construction of its office complex.

The proposed land, opposite the Aburi Police Station, according to Mr. Nantogma, was ready to be released free of charge, following a consultative meeting with the Assembly, as directed by the Minister of Local Government & Rural Development during his tour of the Aburi Botanical Gardens some time ago.

“We have allocated a piece of land opposite the Aburi Police Station, but the DCE, Mr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, said they don’t want it, apart from the portion of the forest reserve,” he noted in an exclusive interview with The Chronicle.

According to the Director of Park and Gardens, after the rejection of the proposed three-acre land by the Assembly, his outfit was left with no option than to report the matter to his sector Minister, Akwasi Oppong-Fosu. He questioned the authority of the DCE to destroy a portion of the Aburi Gardens Forest Reserve for the Assembly’s proposed office complex, when such an action was carried out on the blind side of the Minister of Local Government & Rural Development.

“Nobody gave him that piece of land. He used his powers to encroach on the land. It was not given to him by anybody. This should have passed through Cabinet for approval,” argued Mr. Nantogma. In setting the records straight about unfolding events in the Aburi Gardens, he said it was the then Minister of Local Government & Rural Development, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, who pleaded with them to accommodate the Akuapem South District Assembly, one of the newly-created district assemblies, and also assist them to acquire their own land for an office complex.

According to him, when the Minister toured the facility some time ago, the DCE made a proposal to him to develop a portion of the forest reserve into an office complex for the Assembly, which was welcomed by the Minister, but he directed him to seek audience with the traditional authority and managers of Parks and Gardens to see how best they could acquire a piece of land for the proposed project.

Commenting further, Mr. Nantogma said such a directive was just verbal talk. “This was just a verbal talk. Instead of the DCE to go by the right channel – writing letters to the minister asking for the necessary documentation to assist him acquire the land, he didn’t do that. And so, his action has no documentary backing,” the Director of Parks and Gardens asserted. To Mr. Nantogma, the action of the DCE came to them as surprise, since he has no authority or whatsoever to encroach on the 172-year-old forest reserve. “Before we knew, the DCE had gone to the forest to map out 23 acres of the land. As at now, he has destroyed about two acres – cut the trees and turned them into lumber,” he said.

Chainsaw operators On March 7, 2014, the District Chief Executive stormed the Aburi Gardens Forest Reserve with a group of chainsaw operators, and directed them to cut down the timber species, in preparation for the proposed Assembly complex. But, his dream was cut short, when security personnel of the Gardens detailed at the Forest Reserve raised the alarm, leading to the arrest of the chainsaw operators, and a subsequent halt of the Assembly’s project. The Aburi Botanical Gardens operates under the Department of Parks and Gardens, which is an agency under the Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development. It covers an area of 160 acres (64.34 hectares), out of which 35 acres has been developed.

The Gardens is one of the leading gardens in the world for research into tropical botany. It is made up of orchids, flower plots, rock gardens, children’s park, nurseries and chalets (apartments for rental). It further has 13 hectares of undeveloped land (forest) reserved in its wild state, as a means of stabilising the ecology of the area. According to Mr. Nantogma, after the DCE had destroyed a portion of the forest reserve, he lodged a complaint to the Minister of Local Government & Rural Development, Akwasi Oppong-Fosu, who directed one of his deputies, Baba Jamal, to step in find a lasting solution to the impasse.

“Baba Jamal ordered the DCE to move out of the forest, and even directed us to sit down with the Assembly and resolve the matter, but they (Assembly) said they were not ready to move out from the forest reserve,” he noted. He said what was more worrying was the DCE’s rejection of about three acres of land opposite the Aburi Police Station, the Gardens proposed to give to them free of charge for the office complex. “We have allocated a piece of land opposite the Aburi Police Station, but the DCE said they don’t want it apart from the portion of the forest reserve. I have reported the case to the sector Minister,” he added.

DCE’s side of the story But Mr. Afari-Gyan, according to media reports, has said his action was based upon the directive of his superiors. “It was the Minister of Local Government & Rural Development who issued a directive that the head of the Parks and Gardens should allocate a portion of the undeveloped portion of the gardens for the Assembly complex. So, it was the Curator who took me there and allocated a portion of the undeveloped gardens to us, since the contract had already been awarded,” he said.