The timely intervention of the Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Eric Opoku, has resolved a misunderstanding between the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) and the Lands Commission over the development of a parcel of state land in Kumasi into a recreational park.
The KMA had started developing the five acres opposite the Golden Tulip Kumasi City Hotel into a modern recreational park to be known as Rattray Park when the Lands Commission stopped the assembly from further development.
Apart from its green environment, the land also has some historical significance. It was the area where the British colonial administration landed the first aircraft in Kumasi.
To show its resolve to stop the KMA at all cost, the commission destroyed the iron sheets used to barricade the land and posted a ‘Stop Work’ sign on it.
The commission, whose functions include the management of public lands on behalf of the government, described the move by the KMA as illegal and demanded that the assembly go through the proper process of securing a lease on the land before any development could take place there.
Sensing a stand-off, Mr Opoku intervened to ensure some sanity.
A statement signed by Mr Francis Dodovi, the Spokesman for the Ashanti Regional Minister, and issued by the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinating Council, said the impasse between the KMA and the commission over the land had been resolved.
Dated September 20, 2013, the statement said the resolution of the stand-off followed a meeting between the regional minister and all key stakeholders in the matter.
“The misunderstanding that triggered the confusion is cleared and both parties have agreed to work in unity,” it said.
It added that another meeting had been slated for today, September 24, “to finalise the discussion and deepen the unity required to accelerate the development of the region”.
By Kwame Asare Boadu/Daily Graphic/Ghana
