Henry Quartey Promises To Demolish Structures At Ramsar

The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey, has vowed to demolish some developed structures at the Tema Ramsar site.

Although the exact date for the demolition was not stated, he alluded that structures at the core zone of the site will be affected by the exercise.

This comes after he led the Accra Regional Security Council to the site “to ascertain the level of destruction” caused.

“After inspection with REGSEC, I can assure you that some houses within the core zone of the Ramsar will be demolished to pave way for the water to find its way into the lagoon”.

He noted that “The Ramsar site is internationally recognized and is supposed to hold water from different parts of the country and transit into the sea but the majority has been encroached largely by developers and causing flooding in communities due to the blockage of water into the lagoon”.

Information from the Forestry Commission indicates that the government of Ghana acquired the site of 4200 acres in 1998 which consisted of Buffer, Transition, and Core land, he said and added that “in all, the Buffer and Transition are all encroached and out of the 1200 acres of the core land 700 acres have been encroached upon and the remaining 500 is being filled with sand for development”

According to the Tema West Municipal Chief Executive, Anna Adukwei Addo, over 4000 houses sitting on the Ramsar site are developed without a permit and pay no revenue to the government, Henry Quartey said.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini