General News of Sunday, 1 August 2021
Source: atinkaonline.com
2021-08-01
The pastor could not phantom why TDC will demolish his property without any legal basis
A 42-year-old pastor and resident of Community 23 (Solomon City), a suburb of Santeo in the Kpone-Katamanso District of the Greater Accra region has been rendered homeless following the demolition of his one-storey building by members of the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) Taskforce this week.
Reports indicate that members of the taskforce who were aided by armed police and military personnel undertook the act in the presence of the pastor who was in the building with some labourers working on the extension of his building.
The pastor, Rev Stephen Kwadjo Amankwa, who is reported to have moved into the uncompleted building some few days ago had to be rescued by some residents in the area during an attack by armed security personnel who had come to supervise the demolition exercise.
Producing land title documents including that of a TDC regularization permit to the press, Rev Amankwa could not phantom why the TDC will demolish his property without any legal basis.
He revealed that the TDC had earlier demolished his two stores which were under construction, claiming that they were sited on a government land.
According to the pastor, when he approached the TDC over the matter, he was told that the said land was not part of government acquired land hence the need to “regularize” which he obliged.
He alleged that a formal meeting with the Managing Director of the TDC, Alice Abena Ofori-Atta over the latest development, could not yield any result. He said the Director told them in plain language that, she authorized the demolition exercise, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Meanwhile, the Tema Development Corporation which has denied any wrongdoing in the matter has instituted a criminal case against one of the chiefs of Santeo for his alleged involvement in the sale of government lands to individuals for development.
In a related development, some residents of the area are also living in fear over the possibility of facing similar fate, following the marking of their structures for demolition.