Apremdo chief accuses military of destroying crops

The Chief of Apremdo, Nana Egya Kwamena XI, has accused the military of wanton destruction of food crops belonging to farmers in the area but the military rejected the accusation and said it was unjustified.

He said the destruction of the crops had deprived hundreds of farmers in the community whose livelihoods depended on farming.

Nana Egya Kwamena told the GNA in an interview in Takoradi that some soldiers from the Second Battalion of Infantry last week undertook demarcation exercise on land around the Myhoyoung Barracks at Apremdo that was not part of the land acquired by the government for the military.

He said the exercise was carried out without informing the chief and farmers in the area and demanded compensation for the affected farmers.

He said the chief and elders of Apremdo would officially petition the Western Regional Minister on the issue and also seek legal advice on the next line of action.

Reacting to the allegations leveled against the Command, Lt Col George Tawiah Sam, the Commander of Second Battalion of Infantry, said the demarcation was conducted on military land acquired by the Ghana Government by Executive Instrument 85 in 1962 for military barracks, training area and shooting range.

He said the land covered 2,004 acres but in recent years squatters had encroached on some portions of the land, hence the decision to use every legal means to protect the land from further encroachment.

Lt. Col. Sam said the Command duly informed people whose farms were located on land belonging to the military, therefore the military should not be blamed for destruction of crops.

“The Command entered into a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with the farmers to farm on the military land temporarily and we told them that anytime we need the area for training or any other purposes they should vacate the land,” he said.

Lt-Col Sam said the farmers had farmed on the land for the past 51 years without paying a penny to the military, therefore if the exercise had affected few crops they should not ask for compensation and added “that demand is unjustifiable and the Command will not pay anything to them.”