General News
Police arrest chief for destroying 33,000 rubber trees
An Odikro from Gyabenkrom and two others have been detained for damaging over 33,000 mature rubber trees on a plantation owned by the Ghana Rubber Estate Limited (GREL) in the Ahanta West Municipality of the Western Region.
The devastation is expected to cost the corporation €95,000, or GH1.14 million.
According to police sources, the Odikro identified as Nana Agyarko’s behaviour was motivated by his ambition to regain a portion of government land assigned to GREL for rubber plantation, rezone it, and sell it to private persons for development.
The accused have been granted bail by the Takoradi Divisional Police Command, which is overseeing the case.
According to preliminary police investigations, the Odikro allegedly recruited several young individuals from outside Gyabenkrom, the hamlet where the plantation is located, to down the trees.
Odikro and his two accomplices are assisting police with their investigations.
Tour
Nana Kwesi Agyeman IX, Chairman of the Association of Chiefs on Whose Land GREL Operates (ACLANGO), has since led a tour of the devastated plantation at Gyabenkrom to assess the degree of damage to the rubber trees.
At a press conference following the inspection trip, the chairman labelled the culprits’ actions as a threat to national growth since they did not regard the national interest, employee job security, or the community.
“Through the association, GREL and traditional rulers have been working together and living peacefully since 1993,” Nana Agyeman remarked.
He also denounced the criminals’ actions, saying they had the potential to send mixed messages to the investing community.
As a result, the ACLANGO chairman requested the police to conduct a comprehensive investigation, apprehend and prosecute all perpetrators.
Benefits to Community
According to Nana Agyeman, the company’s operations in the area generated over 4,500 direct jobs to the local populations in its catchment area, as well as over 50,000 more jobs through its out-grower initiative.
He further stated that GREL was one of the region’s key economic players, giving livelihood assistance to over 70,000 people and that it was improper for the criminals to enter the state land allotted to it for tree cultivation and kill the trees.
These incursions on GREL lands, Nana Agyeman added, would have a direct impact on the raw material base required for the smooth operation of the company’s two factories, emphasising the need for all relevant state actors to take the necessary steps to protect GREL’s legally leased concessions to ensure the long-term employment of the area’s youth.
Nana Agyeman noted that the current scenario, in which some persons encroached on GREL grounds in the name of community growth and galamsey, was an unlawful act that deserved to be denounced.
Support
The chairman emphasised that the organisation and all other traditional rulers supported any disciplinary action taken by the police against the culprits within the parameters of the law.
“Those who forcibly take over GREL lands in the name of community expansion without consulting the Office of the Lands Commission, the agency tasked with managing all state lands, are breaking the law and must face the consequences.”
“A country seeking partnerships for investment and development should not have its citizens taking the law into their own hands and destroying private investors’ investments,” Nana Agyeman added.
Background
R. T. Briscoe began the plantation as a tiny private operation in 1957 at Dixcove, with a plantation area of 923 hectares.
The plantation was nationalised in 1960 as the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC), and then in 1962 as the State Farms Corporation.
The Rubber plantation had grown to Abura and Subri at the time.
Briscoe (Firestone) surrendered its stake in GREL to the government in 1980, making the company entirely state-owned.
The government entered into a financial deal with the then Caisse Française de Development (CFD), now Agence Française de Development, to repair and operate the company’s Rubber plantation, as well as to construct a new rubber processing factory at Apimenim.
Following the rehabilitation in 1996, the French management firm, Societe Internationale de Plantations d’Heveas (SIPH), became the business’s principal stakeholder with a new 50-year renewable lease.
Source: Graphic.com.gh
A terrible accident occurred at the base of Galenkui Mountain in Ho, claiming the lives of nine people, including babies.
The terrifying occurrence occurred as a 207 Benz was transporting goods and passengers from Abotoase to Sogakofe.
The car encountered brake failure while descending the mountain, culminating in a collision with a Zoomlion garbage truck.
Initial reports verified seven fatalities at the disaster scene, including newborns and children.
Following that, Mary Dzifa, a nurse at Ho Municipal Hospital, informed Citi News that roughly ten children had died in the disaster.
“I was at our facility yesterday, November 22, when a car rushed in with dead and injured children and injured adults, especially men. Some were attended to at the facility, and the rest who were severely injured were taken to the Ho Teaching Hospital. The dead children will be about 10.”
Officials at the Ho Teaching Hospital said that 32 people were admitted for injuries incurred, with 9 dying as a result of their injuries.
Amos Jah, the Public Relations Officer of Ho Teaching Hospital, said that the injured patients are receiving medical attention and making progress in their rehabilitation.
“I received a call from a friend yesterday who was going back to town and that he saw the accident, so I quickly informed the nurses to be on alert. Some were brought in with pickups, ambulance, tricycles; the situation was very bad, some had broken limbs, some heads almost being severed, some were bleeding from all parts of the body. After two hours, we were able to calm the situation down.”
“We had a total of 30 accident victims brought here. Two others were brought from the Municipal Hospital this morning, making it 32 in all. My information is that we lost 9 of them, 4 are kids and 5 are adults. For the kids, three were brought in dead. Those injured are responding to treatment.”
Dr Adam Bonaa, a security expert, has requested the Oti Regional Minister to restrict all public events in Nkwanta in response to the riots that have taken eight lives.
The fights, in his opinion, were avoidable.
“The Regional Minister and his men must make certain that this never happens again.” This was avoidable, yet 8 people died as a result,” he remarked on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on Tuesday, November 21.
He further suggested that “It is important to suspend all public activities that are likely to take place by the two factions, this is the surest way of letting them know that there is an authority within Nkwanta and the region.”
The Oti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) will host an emergency security meeting today, Wednesday, November 22, in response to the Nkwanta riots.
Regional Minister Joshua Gmayenaam Makubu, appearing on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 on Tuesday, November 21, verified the number of dead and described the pandemonium as “ethnic clashes.”
“Tomorrow we are going to have an emergency security meeting again, ” he further said.
He also disclosed that there had been conflicts in town two weeks earlier between members of two tribes, Adele and Akyode.
Following the conflicts, the Minister of the Interior, Ambrose Dery, acted on the advice of the REGSEC and via Executive Instrument to impose a curfew on Nkwanta township.
The curfew will be in force from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21.
On Tuesday, November 21, an attacker opened fire in the town’s central market area.
Several people have been murdered and others have been injured as a result of the incident.
The Oti Regional Security Council dispatched officers to the region to handle the situation.
“Government wishes to appeal to all to exercise restraint and to use the established mechanisms for the resolution of all their conflicts and disputes.
“Meanwhile, the Government will like to reiterate that, there is a ban on all persons in Nkwanta Township and its environs from carrying arms, ammunition or any offensive weapons and any persons found with any arms or ammunition will be arrested and prosecuted,” the Minister said.
Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament, has categorically rejected selling his official house to a private developer.
He then stated that his home was “almost sold” to a private developer.
The Speaker of Parliament recently revealed that his Accra home was sold to a private developer while he was still living there.
He said this only came to light when the developer went to the Lands Commission to register the land on Monday at the Speaker’s Breakfast Forum in Accra.
However, the Lands Commission claimed in a statement that “at no time did the Lands Commission sell the said property to a private developer.”
In a recent meeting with civil society organisations, the Speaker emphasised that his official house was on the verge of being turned over to a developer except for the intervention of the Lands Commission.
“I didn’t say my residence was sold. That was not what I said. This was just a comment in passing when I said it was almost sold but luckily, I was in possession. And I said it was when they went to Lands Commission that they realised from the search that it was the residence of the Speaker,” Alban Bagbin clarified.
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