Don't Rush to sell Cape Three Points Lands'

News pg (31), Wednesday April 9/2008

Story: Charles Benoni Okine

THE government has asked landowners, particularly traditional rulers within the oil rich Cape Three Points area of the Western Region, to tread cautiously with the sale of land to avoid future conflicts.
Consequently, it has also urged the various assemblies to urgently see to the planning and proper demarcation of the area to avoid haphazard developments.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic on how the government intended to address the issue of the rush and unco-ordinated sale of lands in the area, the Deputy Energy Minister, Mr Kwame Ampofo-Twumasi, said, “The government accords traditional rulers the fullest respect as landowners but they need to ensure consistency in the sale after it had been properly demarcated by the various assemblies.”
He said the scramble for land in the area was not out of place, neither was it a surprise, but said there was the need for the authorities to exercise maximum restraint in their dealings.
“The government is aware that the oil find has made the area attractive and, therefore, there will be many investors ready to position themselves in readiness for brisk business,” Mr Ampofo-Twumasi said.
The Daily Graphic has published reports of some traditional rulers and landowners in the Cape Three Points area selling large parcels of land to developers, without recourse to proper area planning, a practice which has raised fears of future conflicts when full-scale oil production starts.
The Deputy Energy Minister said in all oil-producing countries, business in many forms was brisk and that Ghana was bound to attract similar businesses in the nearest future.
He said there were investors who were ready to buy the land in readiness for business in the future, noting that the sale still needed to be cautiously done.
Mr Ampofo-Twumasi said should the area be demarcated to suit the various businesses that were likely to crop up, the landowners would have better prices for their land.
He told the chiefs that people buying the land now might do so at a cheaper price and resell it later at a higher value, a situation which might spark the conflicts.
He said the ministry intended to hold another forum in the Western Region for the people to educate them on the potential benefits if they were able to avoid the unco-ordinated sale of land.
He said they must also be aware of the need to properly demarcate the area to avoid wanton developments which might jeopardise the entire beauty of the community.
Mr Ampofo-Twumasi recalled that during the first oil and gas forum, the general concentration was on the use of the revenue likely to accrue from the sale of oil. However, he noted that there were other serious issues, such as land sale, that had arisen but noted that the government was keeping a close eye on the developments to ensure that the practice would not affect the peace in the area in the future.