Residents of Eguafo in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central Region have called on Member of Parliament Samuel Atta Mills and local opinion leaders to urgently intervene in a prolonged land dispute that has stalled a major industrial park project in the community.
The multi-million project, which has remained abandoned for two years, was designed to host several facilities, including a flagship furniture factory expected to produce thousands of free school desks and chairs for schools across the municipality and beyond. The initiative was also aligned with national education goals under the Free Senior High School policy, with the potential to reduce procurement costs by up to 40 percent.
Envisioned as a modern industrial hub, the park was expected to provide employment opportunities for hundreds of young people, empower women through skills training in woodworking and assembly, and support vocational apprenticeships for school dropouts. It was also projected to stimulate ancillary businesses such as food vending and transportation, thereby boosting household incomes and reducing rural-urban migration.
Speaking at a press conference, spokesperson for the concerned youth, Mr Emmanuel Quainoo, expressed frustration over the delay, describing the situation as a major setback to development in the area. He noted that construction came to a halt following an injunction issued by the Cape Coast High Court 2, stemming from a legal dispute between Mr Victor Paa Kwesi Mensah, a resident of Ablekuma Fan Milk Junction in Accra, and Abusuapayin Kofi Ntoboah, head of the Anona Family in Eguafo, along with an unnamed developer.
According to him, the project site—spanning approximately 10 acres and located opposite Eguafo Senior High School—was once vibrant with activity, but has since been left abandoned, with building materials exposed to theft and deterioration.
Mr Quainoo stressed that the halt in construction has left many young people jobless, despite the project’s potential to employ over 200 workers directly. He added that the initiative would have strengthened the local economy through supply chains involving timber, steel, and logistics, while also generating revenue for the KEEA Municipal Assembly.
Residents who once depended on the project for their livelihoods shared emotional accounts of hardship. Mr Kwame Asare, a 28-year-old former site foreman, lamented how the situation has left him struggling to provide for his family.
“This dispute has stolen our daily bread; I wake up to empty promises while my children go without,” he said. “It feels like watching a feast prepared for the village, only for greedy hands to destroy everything before anyone benefits.”
Madam Abena Mena, a 45-year-old resident, also recounted the impact on her brother, Mr Kofi Atta, who was once a mason on the project but now faces uncertainty and despair after losing his job.
“My brother was the backbone of our family, but now he is a shadow of himself. Development is always promised, but ordinary people are the ones who suffer when things go wrong,” she said.
A local trader, Maame Akosua, also described how her sachet water business collapsed following the suspension of work at the site. She has since been forced to resort to door-to-door hawking to survive.
During the press conference, dozens of youth gathered at the abandoned site, calling on the parties involved in the dispute to seek an out-of-court settlement. They emphasized that their future, education, and livelihoods depend on the revival of the project.
Municipal authorities have also expressed concern about the broader implications of the dispute, particularly its negative impact on investor confidence in the Central Region.
As frustration continues to grow, the youth of Eguafo have vowed to intensify their calls for action, determined to see the project revived and their hopes for economic progress restored.
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