We followed due process to acquire land – Ghana Gas

The Ghana Gas Company has denied accusations being made by the chiefs and people of Atuabo and Anorchie in the Ellembelle district of the Western Region that the company did not go through the right process in acquiring the land for the gas infrastructure project.

The chiefs are accusing the Ghana Gas Company of not going through the right process in acquiring the land and are demanding that the company immediately legalize its ownership.

They claim they have only been presented with a few bottles of schnapps by the company so far and efforts to get them to complete the compensation process have been fruitless.

But the spokesperson for the Ghana Gas company Alfred Ogbamey has dismissed the allegations.

He told Citi Business News the allegations are untrue.

“It is certainly not true, it certainly cannot be true, that all we did was to come with some schnapps and go on the land and that they’ve called us for various or five meetings and we’ve not been coming. I am telling you on record that I, myself was with the chief at the meeting barely a month and a week ago. The chief cannot claim not to know me, he knows me very well and he knows the community… They are up to something,” Mr. Ogbamey said.

But when asked what the company had given the chiefs apart from the schnapps he told Citi Business news “You must know that the processes of acquiring land by the state are different from the processes of acquiring land if you are an individual. The state does not just go and say this is the land , I’m paying you five cedis or this is the land how much are you selling , I want to buy ? it doesn’t happen , we went to and expressed an interest in using the land, the chief gave us permission to work on the land while the land valuation board in conjunction with the chief and people of the area , value the land and put figures on it. That process does not involve us , it involves an independent arm of the state known as the land valuation board .”

Alfred Ogbamey added that a valuation board is currently looking into the matter. ‘But we are aware that the land valuation board with the active participation of the chiefs and people of various communities are working on it , and remember we are working in various communities , more than these three communities because the onshore pipeline passes through so many communities before it gets to Takoradi. That process has been ongoing and we are not in charge of it and the chiefs and people know.’

Currently, a two-week injunction filed by Awulae Kpanyinle III, has been placed on the gas project by the Sekondi High Court.

The court is expected to continue hearing the case on the injunction tomorrow.

 

By:  Vivian Kai Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana


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