PEKI-AGBATEH LAND DISPUTE SETTLED (BACK PAGE)

A Legal tussle over the ownership of a 2,000-hectre at Peki-Agbateh in the Volta Region has been settled out of court, paving the way for the Volta River Estates Limited (VREL) to engage in large-scale production of pineapples for export and for the local market.
Thirty-two families, all claiming ownership of the land, were embroiled in the dispute, but briefing journalists at the weekend, the Spokesperson for the families, Mr Kofi Sabon, said the matter was settled out of an Appeal Court, and in consultation with the traditional landowners, the company was given the right of entry to the land.
“We are no longer fighting over the land. Mistakes of the past will not be committed again; traditional landowners and the government will sit together to plan strategies on how the land can be used in the best interest of the people,” he declared.
According to Mr Sabon, the company, owned by a foreign investor, had tremendous expertise, and with the right approach, it would be able to turn Agbateh into a profitable venture, adding that the gesture was a win-win arrangement. He, therefore, called on all citizens of Peki to co-operate with VREL to create jobs for the youth in the area.
For his part, the Managing Director of VREL, Mr Hubert van den Broek, disclosed that 500 hectares had earlier been leased to the company, adding that planting had also started since March, this year.
He said so far, 70 persons had been employed out of the 200 projected to be employed by the close of the year.
Mr Broek disclosed that 5,000 metric tonnes of pineapples would be produced within 12 months. He also stated that 3,000 tonnes were also earmarked for export, with 2,000 for processing and for the local market.
He appealed to the community to be patient, explaining that when their operations commenced, the gains would be extended to them, arguing that as a company operating on International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards, the safety of workers and their contributions to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust( SSNIT) would be guaranteed.
Mr Broek noted that land issues in Ghana ought to be understood very well before going into any form of investment, saying that one must know where to approach it from.
He said for now, the broken-down water supply system at Agbateh had been restored for the people following the beginning of the project.
It would be recalled that Mr Kofi Sabon and Mr Jonathan Coli, on behalf of 32 families, filed a writ at the Ho High Court to restrain an American company, Equatorial Capital Ventures, from going ahead with an agro-processing project on the land.
The government acquired the land in 1975 and duly paid compensation to landowners for a Ghana-German Resettlement Farm operated by the Germans, but the project collapsed after the Germans had left and had been handed over to the Ministry of Agriculture.