The library and playground, which have served the community for more than 30 years, according to him has been sold to a private developer for the construction of a casino.
Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem Monday, Mr. Tetteh said per his investigations, the immediate past Tema Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Nii Annang-La, was behind the sale of the state land.
He claimed Nii La, allegedly wrote a letter to Tema Development Company (TDC) to demand a permit for developers which was granted.
Mr. Tetteh said residents will employ all legal means including a demonstration to stop the sale.
But Protocol and Administrative Officer at TDC, Ian Okwei denied any involvement in the sale of the Tema Children’s Park to a foreign company to build a casino.
He stated unequivocally that, the children park is a facility owned and managed by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).
The TDC Protocol officer explained that, his outfit handed over the land to TMA upon request in 2013.
According to him, the Assembly later sub-leased the recreational facility to W.B. Impex Limited, a private company for unknown purpose.
To show commitment, Mr. Okwei said TDC has assigned a taskforce to ensure no construction is done on the land.
He also assured that, no casino project will be built on the Tema Children’s Park.
Mr. Okwei urged residents to remain calm as they engage with relevant stakeholders to resolve the matter.
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]]>The agitated residents claim the library and playground which have served the community for more than 30 years, are allegedly being sold to a private developer to construct a mall or casino.
They have warned against allowing the park to be used for commercial purposes, vowing to demonstrate until the ongoing work is completely stopped.
A video circulating online shows a site engineer supervising the clearing of the land by an excavator, with heaps of sand and stones seen on the compound of the library.
According to the youth, they were informed by the engineer that the park had been sold and that he was supervising the new development.
They also indicated that four individuals in TDC Task Force uniforms were supervising the activity.
A member of Tema Youth, Gideon Kodzo Tetteh in an interview on Citi News said, “The library is running as we speak; they organise sessions for people. Two weeks ago, we went there and found sand and stones on the site so we inquired, and they said some gentlemen claiming ownership of the land brought them at dawn.
“I inquired to know who the gentlemen were and if they showed permits and where they came from. The following day, we were there when the guys came. I confronted them, and they said they had documents, which they showed to us. I saw TDC, TMA, and a few names.
“I went to Tema West Assembly, and they said the place was sold a long time ago, even before they created Tema West Municipal Assembly. They told us to go to TDC, we went there, and they said they gave all government lands back to Tema West Assembly.
“It was a triangle of being tossed all over. I did my own checks and realized the arrangements started in 2012 under the leadership of then MCE, Kemphis Ofosu-Ware, and approval was given in 2013. TDC hasn’t given any official communication yet.”
Responding to this, the Protocol and Administrative Officer at TDC, Ian Okwe, clarified that the library is part of the Community 5 playing ground. He indicated that the private developer had been asked to stop work.
“The library is part of Community 5 playing ground. There’s nowhere on our layout that there’s a land designated for the library. In the living space for the park, the library is part of the land used for that particular playground. The request came that TDC should release the playing ground to TMA for the construction of an ultra-modern playing ground.
As it stands now, nobody has brought any drawings indicating that they are going to construct any casino or whatever there. Management’s attention has been brought to it, the Board chair of TDC went there, and ordered that they stop work,” he said.
The residents have called on the government to intervene and prevent the sale of the library and playground.
The event which was organized by the Ministry of Public Enterprises in collaboration with State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) and the Ministry of Finance was not only aimed at rewarding hardworking entities in the country but also to motivate others to work harder.
Other wins include; Most Compliant SOE – Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), Most Innovative Regulator – Gaming Commission of Ghana, Most Innovative SOE – Volta River Authority, Regulator of The Year – DVLA and State-Owned Enterprise of The Year – Tema Development Company Limited (TDC).
Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia speaking at the event cautioned State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) who default to present their audited financial account reports will be sanctioned.
Speaking at the maiden edition of the Public Enterprises League Table (PELT) Awards, Dr Bawumia said the move is to help the government generate beneficial economic and social outcomes, hence, the decision to closely monitor these SOEs.
“I would like to also state that relative to timely financial reporting, the honeymoon is long over and severe sanctions will follow from now onwards for those who fail to meet required deadlines as specified in the law.
“The state must generate beneficial economic and social outcomes from its investments in these entities, and the efforts made to improve reporting. The use of digital technology should make reporting much easier and seamless going forward,” he said on Thursday.
While acknowledging the significant role SOEs play in the economy, the Vice President was supportive of the new award scheme that was introduced by the Public and Enterprise Ministry.
In his view, the PELT Awards will help in projecting SOEs who are performing for the improvement of the country.
“I wholeheartedly support the innovation of the Public Enterprises League Table (PELT) because it provides a pathway for recognising well-performing boards, CEOs and their management.
“It is my wish that the Public Enterprises League Table the gold standard for recognizing Specified Entities whose responsiveness and performance would be open for all to see,” he noted.
On his part, the Minister for Public Enterprises, Joseph Cudjoe said the newly introduced, award scheme is to generate healthy competition amongst SOEs in the country.
According to him, the aim is to change the 65-year-old challenge of high indebtedness, loss-making, non-performance and collapse of state entities.
So the PELT Awards, Mr Cudjoe was hopeful of building resilient entities that can contribute to the growth of the country.
“The awards aspect of the PELT as we are going to witness here is to provide non-pecuniary incentives for improved performance and to recognize the CEOs/MDs/DGs and Boards of the good performing entities. Unlike a typical soccer league table, when an entity is last on this league table, it does not mean it is going on relegation but needs more attention including training and capacity building and possibly further capitalization by the shareholder.
“On the other hand, when an entity is first, it means to a large extent it is doing the right thing and must be encouraged to do more. This is why the PELT must be understood as a management by exception tool. Ladies and gentlemen, I love competition because competition is fair and brings out the best in us. Yes, the person who comes first comes under pressure to sustain performance and the person who comes last comes equally comes under pressure to improve performance. This how fair, the PELT is, so enjoy the competition,” he noted.
Giving further explanation on the scheme, he said, “PELT as a tool to engender competition will rank the performance of entities in respect of their attainment of targets set and agreed in the annual performance contract they signed with SIGA. It is designed to be a technical ranking system on several dimensions ranging from financials, efficiency and productivity, management improvement and innovation.”
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