PPP Will Protect State Assets

The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has pledged to work with the appropriate state institutions and stakeholders to modify the existing Accra Redevelopment Policy.

According to the party, it was obvious that the existing policy had been abused for the private benefit of politicians and their associates.

“We will protect state assets. We will stop the sale of state property and ensure that only joint ventures/private-public partnerships that enhance the interest of the state are pursued,” it said.

Reacting to last Saturday’s plane crash, the PPP, in a signed statement, said, “As we mourn the shocking death of more than 10 people, the PPP believes that even in our sombre state, we need to reflect soberly on our inaction towards safety measures which has today caused a major blow not only to the aviation industry but also precious human lives.”

It said last Saturday’s plane crash around the El-Wak Sports Stadium, near the Hajj village, in Accra had once again exposed the weakness of Ghanaian officialdom in taking bold decisions to tackle head-on human activities that had the potential of wreaking havoc to us as a country.

“It was an emotional scene hearing the Director-General of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) bemoaning the activities of encroachers on airport lands,” it noted, saying such activities had contributed to last Saturday’s disaster.

“Our leaders should know that no amount of development can be compared or quantified to human lives,” the party pointed out.

In the view of the PPP, haphazard town planning and the reckless way of putting up buildings anywhere, particularly in the capital city and other towns, had not only contributed to the calamity that we had on our hands but also shown the lack of will power on the part of our leaders to sanitise the system, no matter how distasteful it might sound to certain individuals.

“We will ask the people to support government’s efforts to ensure a clean, hospitable environment that will ensure the safety of our people and assist in eradicating preventable diseases from our society,” it said.

It stressed the need for the nation to look again into our attitude towards town planning and urbanisation, saying, “It is not every development that we should encourage, all in the name of modernity.”

“The PPP is against the lax attitude of our leaders in fighting against encroachment and acts that make it impossible to develop our towns and cities in a civilised, organised manner. We must ask what our state institutions have done to deal with encroachment of state lands and property. Indeed, in this instance, what has the board of the GCAA done to protect property entrusted in their care?” it asked.

It said actions that could save lives were frozen because government officials were 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 party said.