Tema Traditional Council wants lands under TDC returned

The Tema Traditional Council (TTC) has appealed to the President to return portions of land compulsorily acquired from the Tema people and given to the TDC Development Company to develop and manage.

Nii Armarh Soumponu, Tema Shipi and spokesperson for the TTC, told the media that the people of Tema were proud to let go over 32 square miles of their land for the benefit of the entire nation.

He, however, stressed that “If the purpose for which our lands were compulsorily acquired without any compensation to the stool has been achieved and there are leftovers, such lands must be released to the stool – we deserve it. It is ours”.

According to the TTC, prior to the acquisition, their traditional occupation was farming and fishing, adding that they, however, lost all their farmlands which gave way to industries leading to the artificial death of farming occupation.

Nii Shipi indicated that unfortunately, the industries were not employing the indigenes, leading massive unemployment Tema's teeming youth.

“The severity of this situation is that barely a month ago, they had to mobilize and moved from shrine to shrine cursing the traditional leadership because they thought we were not doing enough to ameliorate their suffering. If our farmlands were available, they could have gone into farming but where are the farmlands”?

He stressed that it had also become abundantly evident that the purpose for which the TDC Development Company was established was no more relevant and therefore, “its continued existence, does not make sense. All that they do now is to sell our lands just to pay salaries whilst their employees also live in affluence”.

According to the Council, its lands at Klagon that were taken from them must be released to them immediately as it stated that TDC had failed to develop and manage the said lands leading to unscrupulous non-natives who settled on and were selling portions to enrich themselves.