Accra (Greater Accra), 9 Feb. '99 - The Ghana Shippers' Council yesterday said it destroyed research work on termites at the site for a new inland port at Fumesua, near Kumasi, because ''there were no visible signs of an on- going project there''. Reacting to reports of the destruction of 27 years of research on termites being conducted by the Building and Road Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Mr. Kofi Mbiah, acting Chief Executive of the council, said: ''at the time of the clearance, there were no physical structures indicating the presence of any project''. "We had no intentions to destroy a research work painfully conducted in the past 27 years,'' he told newsmen. The termite site at Fumesua covered an area of about 6,000 acres on which research was being carried out by the CSIR for almost 30 years. Mr Kwaku Amoa-Mensah, acting director of BRRI, at a press conference in Kumasi last Thursday, described the incident as ''an irreparable destruction of the site without any consultation with the institute, the legal occupants of the land''. He said the project, established in 1971, served as a source of vital scientific data on the natural resistance of timbers, plastic pipes, clay bricks and rubberised products against termites and fungi. The BRRI would need about 160 million cedis to establish another site considering site preparation, termite mobilisation and preservation, planting of fast growing trees as well as collection, conditioning and positioning of timber species. Mr Mbiah said ''there was no visible sign post showing areas where termites were being cultured, otherwise the area would have been cordoned off as in the case of a shrine, cemetery and other dwelling places on the site.'' "If we were aware, we would have protected the place for the termites, especially, taking into consideration the importance of the research to the nation." He said the affected area is inclusive of a 230,000 acre land belonging to the council and had been gazetted in the Ghana Commercial and Industrial Bulletin number 11A (rpt. 11A) of April 30, 1998. Mr Mbiah said there had been a series of published notices calling upon all persons or entities interested in the acquired lands but the Institute did not respond as to the presence of such a Termite Project. Furthermore, he recalled a publication in the Ghanaian Times of Friday, August 14, 1998 (page 12), reporting of the commencement of the first phase of the establishment of the Inland Port which also was not responded to by the Institute. Mr George Aboagye, Executive Secretary, Ghana Free Zones Board, said the land was acquired by the board and handed over to the Shippers' Council. He said discussions have been on-going between the board and the BRRI on the issue, pointing out that the shippers' council needed only 200 acres of the BRRI's parcel of land to be added to the total acreage of the port. At one stage, he said the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology was involved in the negotiations, adding: ''there should not have been any controversy over this small piece of land at all." Explaining why the site was chosen, Mr Mbiah said, prior to clearance of the site for the port, feasibility studies were conducted on three places, namely Ejisu, Ampabame and Boankra, all in the Ashanti region. Fumesua was selected because of its suitability in terms of the intersection of the Railway line and the main road to Kumasi, convenience of putting infrastructure -- telephone, electricity-- for easy extension to the port by investors and Fumesua having an excellent terrain.
Accra (Greater Accra), 9 Feb. '99 - The Ghana Shippers' Council yesterday said it destroyed research work on termites at the site for a new inland port at Fumesua, near Kumasi, because ''there were no visible signs of an on- going project there''. Reacting to reports of the destruction of 27 years of research on termites being conducted by the Building and Road Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Mr. Kofi Mbiah, acting Chief Executive of the council, said: ''at the time of the clearance, there were no physical structures indicating the presence of any project''. "We had no intentions to destroy a research work painfully conducted in the past 27 years,'' he told newsmen. The termite site at Fumesua covered an area of about 6,000 acres on which research was being carried out by the CSIR for almost 30 years. Mr Kwaku Amoa-Mensah, acting director of BRRI, at a press conference in Kumasi last Thursday, described the incident as ''an irreparable destruction of the site without any consultation with the institute, the legal occupants of the land''. He said the project, established in 1971, served as a source of vital scientific data on the natural resistance of timbers, plastic pipes, clay bricks and rubberised products against termites and fungi. The BRRI would need about 160 million cedis to establish another site considering site preparation, termite mobilisation and preservation, planting of fast growing trees as well as collection, conditioning and positioning of timber species. Mr Mbiah said ''there was no visible sign post showing areas where termites were being cultured, otherwise the area would have been cordoned off as in the case of a shrine, cemetery and other dwelling places on the site.'' "If we were aware, we would have protected the place for the termites, especially, taking into consideration the importance of the research to the nation." He said the affected area is inclusive of a 230,000 acre land belonging to the council and had been gazetted in the Ghana Commercial and Industrial Bulletin number 11A (rpt. 11A) of April 30, 1998. Mr Mbiah said there had been a series of published notices calling upon all persons or entities interested in the acquired lands but the Institute did not respond as to the presence of such a Termite Project. Furthermore, he recalled a publication in the Ghanaian Times of Friday, August 14, 1998 (page 12), reporting of the commencement of the first phase of the establishment of the Inland Port which also was not responded to by the Institute. Mr George Aboagye, Executive Secretary, Ghana Free Zones Board, said the land was acquired by the board and handed over to the Shippers' Council. He said discussions have been on-going between the board and the BRRI on the issue, pointing out that the shippers' council needed only 200 acres of the BRRI's parcel of land to be added to the total acreage of the port. At one stage, he said the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology was involved in the negotiations, adding: ''there should not have been any controversy over this small piece of land at all." Explaining why the site was chosen, Mr Mbiah said, prior to clearance of the site for the port, feasibility studies were conducted on three places, namely Ejisu, Ampabame and Boankra, all in the Ashanti region. Fumesua was selected because of its suitability in terms of the intersection of the Railway line and the main road to Kumasi, convenience of putting infrastructure -- telephone, electricity-- for easy extension to the port by investors and Fumesua having an excellent terrain.
