‘Give Kwabenya land-fill site to owners’
The Sole Commissioner of the Judgement Debt Commission (JDC) has asked the government to consider giving back the landfill site at Kwabenya in Accra to its original owners to save the state from incurring judgement debts.
Advertisement
He said because the state had not paid compensation for the 364 acres to the owners since the acquisition in 2007, interest on the acres kept on rising.
Therefore, he said, if the decision to use the land for a landfill had changed, the state would have to release the land to the owners to avoid accumulating more interest.
Mr Justice Apau made the call on Wednesday when the Chief Valuer of the Land Valuation Division of the Lands Commission, Mr Kwesi Bentsi-Enchill, appeared before the commission in relation to the Kwabenya landfill site.
The commission invited Mr Bentsi-Enchill following a petition it had received from one of the land owners at Kwabenya over the non-payment of compensation to her.
Mr Bentsi-Enchill requested to provide details about the acquisition and compensation payment.
Acquisition/compensation
Mr Bentsi-Enchill said the state acquired the Kwabenya site in 2007 by an Executive Instrument.
He stated that the 364 acres had been assessed and an amount of GH¢1.4 milion earmarked for the settlement of the compensation.
He said he could, however, not tell whether or not the compensation had been paid to the land owners.
Explanation
Mr Bentsi-Enchill said a letter he received from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) indicated that the AMA and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development had decided to not continue with the landfill project at Kwabenya.
Managers
A public servant, Mr Isaac Tetteh, who appeared before the commission on behalf of his sister, Ms Agnes Tetteh, said after the acquisition, he put in an application to the Land Valuation Division for payment of compensation as directed in the advert.
He said the Land Valuation Division approved the document but the compensation had not yet been paid to the family.
Mr Tetteh, therefore, appealed to the commission to prevail on the government to either release the land back to them or pay the compensation.
He claimed that landguards had been threatening to take over his sister’s land.
Retired civil servant
A retired civil servant, Mr Edward Asante, told the commission that the Controller and Accountant General’s Department had failed to give him an outstanding amount which was wrongly deducted from his pension allowance.
He could not tell the exact amount that the state should pay, but indicated that there was still some money for him to take from the state.