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Saturday’s plane crash-leaders must fight encroachers

By PPP
PPP Saturdays plane crash-leaders must fight encroachers
JUN 6, 2012 LISTEN

Last Saturday's plane crash at the Military Sports Stadium-El-Wak, near the Hajj village in Accra has again exposed the weaknesses of Ghanaian officialdom in taking bold enough decisions to tackle head-on human activities that have the potential of wreaking havoc to us as a country.

The attitude of the Ghanaian leadership is akin to the proverbial scavenging Vulture that only enjoys the bright sunny day, forgetting that the wet season is only a matter of course and when the latter occurs, it is found wanting because it did not plan for the rains.

As we mourn the shocking death of the more than ten people, the PPP believes that even in our somber state, we need to reflect soberly on our inactions towards safety measures which have today caused a major blow not only to the aviation industry, but also to precious human lives.

There is therefore the need to look again into our attitude towards town planning and urbanization. It is not every development that we should encourage all in the name of modernity. To is to say we are able to define what development means as people and our needs. Haphazard town planning and the reckless way of putting up buildings anywhere, particularly in the capital city and other towns have not only contributed to the calamity that we have on our hands, but also shown the lack of the will power on the part of our leaders to sanitize the system no matter how distasteful it might sound to certain individuals.

It was an emotional scene hearing the Director General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA)- Doris admonishing that activities of encroachers of the Airport lands, saying such activities have contributed to the last Saturday's disaster. Our leaders should know that no amount of development can be compared or quantified to human lives.

The PPP is against the lax attitude of our leaders in fighting against encroachment and act that make it impossible to develop our towns and cities in a civilized organized manner. We must ask what our state institutions have done to deal with encroachment of state lands and properties. Indeed, in this instance, what has the Civil Aviation Authority Board of Directors done to protect properties entrusted in their care?

Today many structures have blocked waterways in our capital city and many other towns and cities in the country. Yet no one is able to tackle the situation because any actions to reverse damages done are stopped due the fear of political consequences. Actions that can save lives are frozen because government officials are afraid of the same people who voted them into power to improve their lives! These politicians allow the whole country to be taken to ransom by a few law breakers.

The Progressive People's Party pledges to be different. We will work with appropriate state institutions and local stakeholder to modify the existing Accra Redevelopment Policy. It is obvious that the existing policy has been abused for the private benefit of politicians and their associates. We will protect state assets.

We will stop the sale of state properties and ensure that only joint ventures/private-public partnerships that enhance the interest of the state are pursued. We will ask the people to support government's efforts to ensure a clean, hospitable environment that will ensure the safety and assist in eradicating preventable diseases from our society.

Richmond Keelson,
Communications Director, PPP.
Richmond Keelson
Director of Communications
(020 813 5309)

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