Akotoso Farms vandalised

Akwansrem (Ash), Oct 25, GNA- The Akotoso Farms at Akwansrem in Ashanti was on Friday vandalised by some unscrupulous people of the town.

The people destroyed office furniture and documents and took away a safe from the accountant's office.

They also attacked the police, who were sent there to prevent acts of vandalism with guns, cutlasses, stones and cudgels and police reinforcement had to be sent in from Kumasi and Obuasi to bring the situation under control.

The police arrested Nana Annor Barima II, chief of Akwansrem and six others. The chief has, however, granted self-recognisance bail. The tension between the people of Akwansrem and management of the farms followed the erection of a signboard with the inscription "President's Special Initiative Oil Palm (PSI-OP) Nursery Operator, Akotoso Farms Limited, Akwansrem.

The people of the town are alleged to be angry over the erection of the board.

The land presently occupied by the Farms was acquired by the defunct State Farms Corporation for the cultivation of oil palm in 1973 until an executive order led to the felling of the palm trees to make way for other projects.

This apparently did not go down well with the people. When management of Akotoso Farms took over the land in 1997, the chiefs and people disagreed and had since been litigating with the company.

Mr Kofi Anane Bimfo, Managing Director of the Farms said the erstwhile State Farms was divested to him in 1999 after fulfilling all the conditions to it.

He said the appropriate traditional authorities also had equity share in the farm and a sale purchase agreement had been signed between the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) representing the government and his company on March 18, 1999.

Mr Bimfo claimed that his company had been selected to participate in the PSI-OP and that the company signed an agreement to this effect on October 10, 2003 to start the project.

He said the signpost was erected after the selection of his Farm and that the PSI was private a sector-driven project and that the government was only a facilitator.

The farm, Mr Bimfo said at that time had 52,000 pre-nursery bags awaiting seeds for the establishment of the nursery. Meanwhile, all is calm with the police maintaining law and order in the town and on the farm.

Mr Ofosu-Mensah Gyeabour, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, has called on the chiefs and people of Akwansrem to exercise restraint and use the due process of law to resolve the matter.