Hundreds of developers occupying land earmarked for the Ghana Free Zones Board’s industrial park (GFZB)at Hwereso near Deduako in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti region, have appealed to the Overlord of Ashanti Kingdom, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to stop GFZB from sacking them from the land.
The Chronicle investigations have established that over 1,000 plots of land, which belonged to GFZB have been encroached upon by these people who have built over five hundred houses on them.
The GFZT has, however, decided to pull down the structures to pave way for the development of the Industrial Park.
The park is a complement to the re-development of the Boankra Integrated Logistics Terminal (BILT), a mega project, which seeks to decongest the TemaHarbour and extend port services to the northern sector of Ghana and her neighbours.
According to the illegal occupants, they acquired the land from the Hwereso Stool, which is under the Ejisu Traditional Council,from2008 to 2016, without any knowledge that the land had been earmarked for an industrial Park. They only got to know that the land belongs to the state after they had been served with notices to vacate.
At a news conference held at Hwereso and addressed by Mr. Emmanuel Owusu, the secretary of the Landlords of HweresoDeduako, they pleaded with ManhyiaPalace and Jubilee House to help them maintain their places of abode and that any attempt to evict them from the GFZB enclave would lead to the loss of their investments.
According to Owusu, they the landlords heard in 2012 that the land they have acquired had been allocated to the GFZB. This compelled them to make a fellow up at both Ejisu Traditional Council and the Ashanti Regional Lands Commission but they were told that the story was not true.
Mr Owusu further told the media that the landlords in 2016, four clear years after the denial, he heard an announcement by the Paramount Chief of Ejisu,Nana Afrane Okese, ordering that every form of development at Hwereso should cease because the land had been allocated to the Free Zones Authority.
The Secretary of the Landlords of Hwereso Deduako told the media that in a follow up to the Ejisu Stool Lands and Lands Commission, they confirmed to them that indeed the land they are developing had been earmarked for GFZB operations.
In an attempt to save the situation, Emmanuel Owusu indicated at the news conference that they filed several letters and petitions to Manhyia Palace and the GFZB to find out if indeed their place of abode has been given out to the GFZB.WhistManhyia Palace is yet to respond to their petition,Owusu noted that the FZB replied them underscoring that indeed the Hwereso land belongs to the them.
When contacted, Mr. Michael OkyereBaafi, the Chief Executive of the Ghana Free Zones Board, explained to The Chronicle that theHweresolands had been earmarked for industrial park and that the Government of Ghana had paid compensation, including crop compensation to occupants of the land and to the Hwereso stool.
The post Occupants on GFZB land plead for clemency appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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