‘Government is not giving out Parks and Gardens for sale’

Mr O.B. Amoah, the Deputy Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, on Monday denied that the Government is clearing part of the Parks and Gardens Land to be sold for commercial purposes.

He said the government had no intention of giving the land out for any commercial purposes or ceding to a private developer, neither would any portion be used for residential purposes.

The Minister was reacting to publication by some media houses to the effect that portions of the Parks and Gardens land, at its Head Office in Accra, had been cleared and that 144 trees and 5,000 nurseries of flowers had been destroyed.

He said the Head Office was situated on a nine-acre land and that, as far back as 2012, the then government attempted to give part of the land to a private developer under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to develop 2.2 acres of it for residential purposes and in turn build offices and buy equipment for the Department.

However, when the current government took office it had observed that while the former Administration had signed an agreement with one entity, another private entity was set to clear the land for that same purpose.

”But fortunately, as at 2016, there was no such development on the land,” he said.

Mr Amoah said the Government was not interested in pursuing any such PPP for the development of the said land and would not give it out for sale.

He said currently, the Attorney General was looking into the issue of the agreement and would come out with its responses soon.

He gave the assurance that the Minister, Hajia Alima Mahama, would address the issue thoroughly when she takes her turn at the meet-the-press series next week.

He appealed to the media to seek clarification on stories before they publish.

Source: ghananewsagency.org