Traditional council urges calm at Adina
The Some Traditional Council has asked residents of Adina and its environs to remain calm while it resolves a fracas between them and an Indian salt factory, Seven Seas, operating in the area.
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The residents in recent times have been up in arms against the salt factory with demonstrations and riots for allegedly polluting their potable water and taking away their livelihood.
Speaking on behalf of chiefs and elders of Some Traditional Council at a press conference at Agbozume in the Ketu South District of the Volta Region, the Secretary of the traditional council, Mr Charles Nypson Agbagedey, stated that although the people had genuine concerns, especially with the issue of compensation for those whose livelihoods had been affected, the use of violence was not the best approach to solving the matter.
He said the authority was working round the clock and through legal means to resolve the concerns of the people to bring mutual justice and social equity.
He, therefore, appealed to residents to remain calm and law abiding, while they engaged the necessary stakeholders, including the company for a lasting resolution of the issues.
Clashes
The concerns of the residents are that the operations of the company were not beneficial to them because apart from polluting their potable water, they could neither fish nor mine salt from the same parcel of land the company was operating on.
The youth in the area are, therefore, demanding that the company develop a portion of the lagoon for residents to depend on as their daily source of livelihood.
A recent clash on March 14, 2017 between the Adina community and the salt factory for those reasons led to the death of a 24-year-old resident,while properties of the company were also vandalised.
Political Interference
Mr Agbagedey observed that the riots were also a result of interference of the two major political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He indicated that their efforts at inciting the people would deepen the already existing tension and create further security problems for the people in the area.
“Their activities are making our citizens, especially the youth not to respect the traditional authorities in the area,” he said and called on the youth to rather support the traditional authorities to resolve the impasse.
Some has jurisdiction
Mr Agbagedey also called on other traditional councils and youth groups in neighbouring communities of the hotbed to rather support the Some Traditional Council to deal with the issues head-on rather than taking any parallel actions such as declaring open support for the residents in the fight against the company.
“The jurisdiction of the issue entirely rests with the Some Traditional Area. We are capable of dealing with our own issues,” Mr Agbagedey stressed.
