A total of 13 people were arrested yesterday by the Greater Accra Regional Security Council (REGSEC) taskforce for erecting illegal structures at the Laboma Beach and the banks Kpeshie lagoon at Teshie in Accra.
The suspects would assist the police investigations to unearth those behind the structures on the land designated as a Military Shooting Range.
The arrest was made when the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Daniel Nii Kwartei Titus-Glover, together with members of the REGSEC who paid a working visit to the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly to check the level of encroachment on government lands.
He was accompanied by the Municipal Chief Executive of La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, Mr Solomon Kotey Nikoi, and the Chief Executive of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, Mrs Elizabeth Sackey.
They had expressed concerns over illegal buildings springing up along the lagoon and the Laboma beach.
To this end, Mr Titus-Glover threatened to demolish all illegal structures erected at the Laboma beach and along the Kpeshie Lagoon in the few days.
He noted that the ongoing encroachment activities and erecting of the illegal structures had a deliberate attempt to reclaim part of the Kpeshie lagoon, which would block the flow of the lagoon into the sea.
“We have seen the level of encroachment on this land and how some illegal structures have been raised on the lagoon, unfortunately we have to go and prepare and come back within the next couple of days to pull some of this buildings down.
All the structures are illegal structures because from the information given to me by my MCE, permit is not given to any one here to build any form of structure,” he said.
He further urged the developers at the area to cease all construction works until RESEC and the Assembly come up with the proper planning scheme on how the place should be organised.
To ensure that the order was adhered to, the Minister assured that the security personnel would be deployed to the area to observe and guard the place day and night to ensure nobody breached the order.
The La Shikitele, Nii Adjei Koofeh IV, on his part, said the La Traditional Council permitted a youth group named ‘Laboma Youth Group’ to use the place with the promise of not putting up any permanent structure or sell any part of the land.
However, he said the Council noticed the group did not adhere to their directive after a couple of years, adding that several pieces of advice and warnings to the youth group did not yield any positive results.
“As of now, they are working, sold lands, building permanent structures and filling up the water bodies, their attitude are destroying the land, they are not following any proper building plan and they are also building without permits.
This is a disrespect to the La Traditional Council, to the government bodies and to the people of La,” he stated.
Nii Koofeh IV noted that, the people of La Communities had called on the La Traditional Council to take action against the Laboma youth group for engaging in conducts that were of threat to them.
BY CECILIA LAGBA YADA