Illegal buildings at Sakumono Ramsar site mysteriously turning legal, demolition plans aborted
The decision to pull down illegally constructed buildings at the core zone of the Sakumono Ramsar Site has been rescinded by the government.
Initially, all was set for the demolition of buildings on the Ramsar site by the Greater Accra Regional Security Council after the wall of the fence on the zone was demolished in October.
To pave way for the final phase of the demolition, a group was tasked to take stock of the number of unlawfully constructed houses in the zone to earmark for the demolition.
“I can see very learned people, people of prominence and important people in society gathered here giving an indication of the profile of the people who have carried out the illegal developments at the site and I fear efforts by successive governments to put in place flood prevention mechanisms were being defeated,” Mr Henry Quartey said during a stakeholder forum by the Tema West Municipal and the Tema Metropolitan Assembly in collaboration with REGSEC on Sunday, November 6.
Interestingly the Regional Minister came out with a shocking revelation after stakeholder meetings held on Sunday 6th November 2022 that a process has rather commenced in making the buildings fall within a lawfully constructed one.
He, however, warned that as “construction goes on for the next three weeks while we go through the processes, I can assure that we will pull down buildings that have been marked within the core zones and the buffer in addition to those being constructed”.
A conclusion on the matter was arrived at following the completion of phase one of the demolition exercise, which had fence walls within the core zones of the Ramsar site pulled down.
Encroachment has been the bane of the site for years and residents within Tema and its environs are affected by this situation as it floods in their areas at the slightest rainfall.
The site is made up of a coastal brackish-saline lagoon which is surrounded by floodplains, freshwater marsh, coastal savannah grasslands with thicket vegetation, and a narrow sand dune linking it to the sea.
