Court ejects trespassers in Krokosua forest reserve

Takoradi, Aug. 27, GNA - A Sefwi-Wiawso High Court has ordered the destruction of food and cash crop farms cultivated outside admitted farms in the Sefwi Krokosua hills forest reserve in Juaboso District of Western Region.

The court presided over by Mr Justice W. Kpentey also ordered the ejection of trespassers and asked chiefs and their subjects working on admitted farms in the area to engage competent surveyors to team up with Forest Service Division to undertake re-demarcation or verification of original admitted farm boundaries. In its ruling on July 31, this year, the court restrained personnel of Forest Service Division and security agencies from harassing or disturbing chiefs and their subjects working on the admitted farms. These were contained in a copy of the ruling and a statement issued in Takoradi and signed by Mr Kwakye Ameyaw, Western Regional Manager of FSD of Forestry Commission made available to Ghana News Agency on Monday.

In 2004, five farms that existed before the creation of the forest reserve (admitted farms) were released to their owners in fringe communities following a representation made to the Commission. The statement said after the release of these farms covering 254.81 hectares to them in 2005, they begun to extend their farms beyond the demarcated boundaries.

It said efforts to check the encroachment resulted in a dispute between FSD, the chiefs and landowners. Several meetings organised by a special committee comprising personnel of FSD, security agencies, chiefs, landowners, the assembly and stakeholders to resolve the impasse amicably became fruitless. The statement said the affected chiefs and landowners from Kwaokrom, Abrokofe, Adwumam, Boinzan and Nsinsim initiated court action to restrain FSD from destroying their farms and ejecting them from the encroached areas in the forest reserve.