Madina SHS, La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal Assembly in tango over construction of wall
The proprietor of the Madina Senior High School (MANSEC) and the New Industrial University College at Madina in Accra, Nana Opoku Ampomah, has appealed to the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal Assembly to stop impeding his effort to construct a wall on his two plots of land within the jurisdiction of the assembly.
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Environmental Health Department
He explained that on July 3, 2013, the Environmental Health and Management Department of the assembly wrote to advise him to fence his undeveloped piece of land, which is located between the senior high vocational technical school and the New Industrial University College, near the Madina Police Station.
In a petition copied to the Daily Graphic, Nana Ampomah explained that in October 2013, he submitted an application with a photocopy of the Environmental Health Officer’s letter to the assembly and it was approved by the assembly on December 2, 2013.
According to him, before the assembly gave him the permit to construct the wall, an officer of the assembly was sent to inspect the land. "When I got the building permit, I informed the assembly that I would start the building of the wall on February 26, 2014."
“On that date, an officer of the assembly came to inspect the land and helped my workers to mark where the foundation holes were to be dug,” he stated in the petition.
Seized tools
Nana Ampomah said he was, therefore, surprised that on February 27, 2014, when his workers started work, officials of the assembly went to the site to seize their tools, explaining that he did not have genuine documents for the piece of land.
“When the workers and my daughter went to the assembly to ask for the seized items, they were given the items and were told to go and continue their work. After working for a few hours, another group of assembly workers went to seize all the items that were returned to my daughter and my workers and took them to the assembly for the second time.
“Again, my daughter and some of my workers went back to the assembly and they were given the items back and, as usual, they were told to go and continue their work. Unfortunately,this happened the third time,” he narrated in his submission.
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Nana Ampomah said he acquired the said parcel of land by customary grant from the late Nii Anyetei Kwakwaranya, the then La Mantse, and registered it with the Lands Commission so the documents issued to him could not be fake.
He, therefore, accused the municipal assembly of interfering in his personal affairs and appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to intervene on his behalf.
MCE reacts
Mr Franklin Anku, the MCE, acknowledged directing his officers to stop the work on the said land, adding that when Nana Ampomah challenged the technical officers of the assembly "about the authenticity of our site plan for the area, I asked Nana to bring the site plan he claimed was the correct one".
He said Nana went and never returned until one evening when he (Mr Anku) was walking in the town and realised that some development was going on without the knowledge of the assembly.
Stop work
Mr Anku explained that when the following day he inquired from the Town and Country Planning Officer and the Works Engineer and they said they knew nothing about the development, “I asked that they should ask the workers to stop work," he explained.
He said he invited Nana Ampomah for a discussion, but rather, a lady showed up in the company of a military officer and introduced herself as the daughter of Nana Ampomah and when the discussion began, the lady flared up.
"The lady flared up here and said they had presented this document to the Town and Country Department and she was advised to go and work on a new site plan and mentioned the name of one of my officers, who is currently on leave. This was what caught my attention and I requested that they should suspend any work on the site until the said officer returns," he explained.
Powers of the MCE
Mr Anku explained that based on what the lady said, he directed his technical officers to conduct an investigation into the issue, the findings of which led to the revocation of the permit in accordance with Section 51, 2 of the Local Government Act, Act 462, 1992.
Section 51 states: “A District Planning Authority may revoke a permit to develop or impose additional conditions to a permit already granted, except that any revocation or modification shall be subject to the payment, on receipt of a claim, of such compensation as the District Planning Authority may determine”.
Expectations
But the Municipal Director of Town and Country Planning, Mr Ofei Kumi, said the site plan of Nana Ampomah could not conform to the layout of the area, insisting that the site plan was not genuine.
He said what Nana Ampomah should have done was to cooperate with the assembly to find ways of assisting him to get the permit and not rush to the media.
Writer’s Email: severious.dery@graphic.com.gh
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