Govt letter requesting for masterplan redevelopment of portions of Achimota Forest leaks

GhanaWeb has intercepted a letter from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, signed under the name of its minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, requesting for a masterplan towards the redevelopment of the Achimota Forest.

The letter, dated October 10, 2023, to the Municipal Chief Executive of the Okaikwei North Municipal Assembly, but received on November 15, said that it is seeking to do this because portions of the Achimota Forest ceases to be a forest reserve.

“As you may be aware, by the Forests (Cessation of Forest Reserve) Instrument, 2022 (E.I. 144), as amended by the Forests (Cessation of Forest Reserve) (Amendment) Instrument, 2023 (E.I. 234), portions of the Achimota Forest, measuring approximately 260.06 acres or 105.25 hectares, ceased to be a forest reserve,” the statement signed by Abu Jinapor said.

The letter further requested the MCE for Okaikwei North to furnish it with a plan on how it wants to develop that portion of the forest land.

It added that this plan should consider the protection of the portion of land that is still under ecological protection.

“By paragraph 2 of E.I. 144, the District Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), with jurisdiction over the land that has ceased to be a forest reserve, is to prepare, for the approval of the Minister responsible for Lands and Natural Resources, a master plan for the development pf the said land.

“In preparing the master plan, the District LUSPA shall take into consideration the protection of the ecological integrity of the Forest Reserve which abuts the land,” the letter added.

The letter is also copied to the Chief of Staff.

It will be recalled that the Achimota Forest became the center of a lot of discussions sometime in 2022, when it emerged that portions of the forest had been given out to private individuals.

All of it started when portions of the final Will of the late Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, popularly known as Sir John, leaked, and in it, it showed that he had willed a land at the forest to someone.

See the letter from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources below:

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AE