By: Francis Asamoah Tuffour

THE Chiefs and people of La-Nkwantanang and Agbogba in the Greater Accra Region have expressed shock at the decision of government to return 40 per cent of an undeveloped parcel of land at Legonman also known as REDCO to Mr. Teodoro Martz Montero.

At a news conference in Accra yesterday, a spokesperson for the group, Nii Aryi Lamptey, said the decision to return parcels of land as well as a number of uncompleted houses to Montero, the then estate developer of REDCO was wrong and unnecessary.

He believed that the decision was a mistake or oversight on the part of the Attorney General’s Department.

He said the government by Executive Instrument (EI) 20 of March 4, 1977 and EI 20 of February 5, 1991, acquired parcels of land from Chiefs of La Nkwantanang and Agbogba and got the Bank for Housing and Construction Limited to put up estate houses for sale to the general public.

Somehow the project floundered and the bank was liquidated.

Subsequently, he said, in 1988, the chiefs and people took the Lands Commission and the Land Valuation Board to court to halt the flagrant dissipation of our lands and to seek the immediate return of undeveloped portions of the land to us’.

Nii Lamptey alleged that on January 30, 2004, judgment was given in favour of the two communities.

He said ‘if judgment was given in our favour why should government decide giving 40 per cent of the land to Montero”?

According to him, soon after judgment was given in the case, copies of the judgment were distributed to all institutions concerned including the Attorney General’s Department and caused a publication in an Accra daily.

Nii Lamptey noted that after the judgment they accordingly took possession of undeveloped portions of the land and allocated some to the inhabitants of the two communities.

‘As I speak, the whole undeveloped land has virtually been built up and there is not a single plot of land vacant’.

The purpose of the news conference, he said, was to lay bare the facts to the whole world so that the issue of REDCO flat will be laid to rest.

Nii Lamptey contended that they have no objection to government’s decision to return the uncompleted portions of REDCO flats to Mr. Montero but to direct that 40 per cent of the land should be returned to him is unacceptable.

He said that the Daily Graphic publication of June 15 came to them as a shock and had caused tension and anxiety within the two communities, adding that individuals and developers who have acquired portions of the land for building purposes are equally worried.

He noted that apart from the decision to return parcels of the land to the developer, compensation has not been paid to the chiefs to date.

He said that although they applaud government’s initiative at providing affordable housing for Ghanaians, they will do everything within their means to assist Mr. Montero to carry out his project to enable him to complete the uncompleted buildings but not on the supposed 40 per cent of land that is unavailable.

            The Ghanaian Times     -           Tuesday, June 26, 2007                        Page: 20