Stop building on Cemetery land - Owusu Ansah

The Effutu Municipal Coordinating Director, Mr Francis Owusu Ansah has expressed concern about the rate at which people were desecrating graves, and building on the cemetery lands.

He therefore appealed to chiefs in the area to stop selling Cemetery and refuse dumps sites to people for development.

Mr Owusu Ansah made the appeal at a public gathering in Winneba.

He said the Assembly has arrested labourers who were at the cemetery constructing foundation that has exposed bones and blankets from grave of the dead who are expected to be resting in peace.

“I would like to plead with Nananom to help us manage the Municipality by desisting from actions that put the Assembly in an embarrassing situation”.

According to the Effutu Municipal Coordinating Director the situation was not different with the sale of land earmarked for refuse dump site at Effutu.

“The rapidity with which lands are sold to private developers who construct without permit is alarming,” he added.

The Coordinating Director therefore appealed to the Omanhene of the Traditional Area, Neenyi Ghartey VII to intervene in the matter to forestall any unpleasant action that the Assembly might take against the perpetrators.

He said this was not to prejudice the police and court actions that the Assembly had already initiated against illegal encroachers some of whom have already completed the construction of buildings within and on the fringes of the cemetery and refuse dump sites.

He disclosed that the Assembly in collaboration with government had completed a number of development projects to improve the living standard of the people.

The projects included the construction of school buildings, roads, health facilities and the provision of good drinking water.

He said the Assembly had embarked to repair all defunct street lights in the Municipality, adding that, 413 Street light accessories had been procured for that programme.

According to him the programme was one of the surest ways of ensuring security in the Municipality and reducing crime to the barest minimum.

The Municipal Coordinating Director pointed out that the process was on-going and “we still have substantial stock of lights in store”.

He said after completing the old township, the team would extend their operation to the Low Cost, Gyatekrom and other newly developed areas of the Municipality.

Over 70 per cent of faulty street lights in the Municipality have been repaired or replaced.

Mr Owusu Ansah enumerated a number of development projects that had been undertaken by the Assembly in collaboration with the government.

He mentioned some of them as construction of School buildings and health facilities.

On roads, the Coordinating Director said the Department of Urban Roads and Ghana Highway Authority have started widening town roads in the Municipality to ensure that encroachment on roads ways was reduced.