The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio, on behalf of the Ministry and in collaboration with the Greater Accra Security Council under the chairmanship of the Regional Minister, Hon. Henry Quartey has on Monday, 27th June, 2022, met with encroachers of the remaining 900acres land belonging to Animal Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Ghana (CSIR) to deliberate on the way forward in the regularization of their properties.
This comes at the back of a recent demolition of hundreds of structures on some 200 acres of land at CSIR, believed to have been encroached by some residents of Frafraha in the Adentan Municipality of the Greater Accra Region.
Hon. Benito Owusu Bio at the meeting commended the Regional Minister and the REGSEC for sounding such a strong warning to encroachers in the area and elsewhere in Ghana.
He went on to caution Ghanaians to desist from the act of building on government lands, pointing out that Government has use for them although they seem not to be utilised.
The Deputy Minister noted that his Ministry would commence the regularization process, adding that anybody who attempts to build on any unoccupied government land would be arrested and prosecuted.
The Regional Minister Hon. Henry Quartey on his part used the opportunity to thank H.E the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Heads of all the Security and Intelligence Agencies, the Media and all other stakeholders whose contributions made the exercise a success.
He indicated that, REGSEC has charged the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service to commence an investigation over the involvement of some staff of CSIR over the sales of lands.
The Regional Minister also disclosed that REGSEC activity on CSIR land has come to an end hence charging Management of CSIR to make efforts in protecting their lands, intimating that there would be security presence on the reclaimed lands.
In a closing statement, Hon. Henry Quartey signalled a warning to Ramsar site encroachers to be wary because REGSEC will be there very soon.
In a brief statement, the Member of Parliament for the people of Adenta Constituency, Hon. Mohammed Adamu Ramadan commended Hon. Henry Quartey for taking a bold step to undertake the exercise and also ensuring that over 4000 houses without documentation are considered for regularization.
Representatives of the properties located on the said land admitted that they indeed had no legal documentation of the said lands and are aware of it’s rightful owners.
They also indicated that no resident of the area had paid any tax to government through the Assembly and pleaded for the regularization of the lands.
Also present at the meeting were Chief Director of Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, the Executive Secretary of Lands Commission, Technical Director for Lands at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources. Others included the Municipal Chief Executive of Adenta and his management staff, Director, Board chair and management staff of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
