Regional Minister Defends Demolition Exercise

Sunyani, (Brong Ahafo) 9 Oct.,

The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr David Osei-Wusu, yesterday assured the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) that it has the legal backing to start developing the land it has acquired for the construction of some housing units at Sunyani. He said Brong Ahafo lands are vested in the state and that no chief can put impediments in the way of prospective developers who acquire lands lawfully. Mr Osei-Wusu was reacting to a story in an Accra daily yesterday in which the Adontenhene of the Sunyani Traditional Council, Nana Boadi Akofa, was claiming 120 million cedis from SSNIT in the aftermath of a recent demolition exercise. The demolition exercise, the chief claimed, affected an ancestral shrine belonging to the Atoase family headed by him. Mr Osei-Wusu said the demolition exercise was undertaken by the Lands Commission and not rpt not SSNIT as implied in the story. He said those who encroached upon the said land were given adequate time to remove their property and that no chief informed the Commission of an ancestral shrine on it. Mr Osei-Wusu advised journalists to always check their facts by contacting all affected people for their side of issues and not to rush to publish stories as told by aggrieved persons. He said some of these stories are at variance with the efforts of the government to rapidly develop the region and that journalists should always weigh the negative impact of such issues. The regional lands officer, Mr Justice Isaac De-Veer, said the law gives the lands commission the power to demolish all property on lands which are not properly acquired. He assured SSNIT that it is protected under the law and should therefore not rpt not be scared by such threats. Other people present at the meeting were officials from the Survey department, Town and Country Planning and a representative of the Omanhene of the Sunyani traditional area. The regional secretariat of the lands commission recently demolished 51 houses on a land legally acquired by SSNIT in an exercise to pave the way for the commencement of the construction of some housing units.