The Spokesperson for the Tema Traditional Council, Nii Armah Sumponu II, has urgently requested President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to reclaim lands in the area that have been sold to private entities.
He raised concerns regarding the sale of these lands, which has hindered local residents from obtaining land for agricultural and residential purposes.
During the inauguration of the Tema-Mpakadan Rail line on November 22, Nii Armah Sumponu II urged the President to take action to recover the lands before the end of his term, expressing frustration over the lack of attention to their issues by successive governments.
“Your Excellency, our greatest worry is that a dwelling place for our children is becoming imminently impossible because we’re caged between the sea and industries. To the extent that currently plots meant for residential homes are being turned into industrial plots. Further, a chunk of our lands that have not yet been utilised are being sold instead of reverting to the stool. Our main fear is that in the near future, we have no choice but to pack ourselves in a small corner in the whole of Tema enclave.
“These are the social effects on the indigenes of Tema. Your Excellency, economically, the indigenes of Tema used to be farmers and fishermen. Our farmers were thrown out of business to make way for industries. One would have thought that to atone for this, measures would have been taken to ensure that a quota of job opportunities would have been reserved for the stool, but nothing of such happened and a greater percentage of our youth are jobless.
“In any case, if our farmlands were available, we would have gone into farming but that is not the case. We have brought it to the attention of successive governments, it’s quite disheartening that this part of us has not touched any government. Therefore, we continue to be hoping against hope. We hope that despite your limited days in office, we can confidently say that you can do something about this before you leave office if you so desire, this is our humble prayer.”
He also expressed appreciation to the government for the completion of the rail line.
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