Some residents of Mafi Tedeafenui, a farming community in the Central Tongu District have accused foreign investors of encroaching on their lands thereby depriving them of their livelihood.
The residents, mostly youth, say the foreign company, Spring Agro Industries Limited, was able to get over 700 acres of land for their farming business which was released to them by the elders of the area but went ahead and took over another 114 acres of land already being used and owned by them.
Some of the residents, speaking to the media, said they live in their own community like strangers and are almost on the verge of losing their lands to foreigners.
One of the youth leaders of Tedeafenui, Daniel Agbetum, complained of how the company expanded their farm boundary to areas they were not given permission to farm on, adding that they are unable to come to a conclusion on what exactly to do in regards to the 114 acres of lands currently in dispute.
“They have expanded their farm to areas that the family did not give to them and we tried our best to get to know who gave them that land, but we are not coming to any conclusion,” David said.
He said complaints to the DCE concerning the issue are yet to get any positive response; a situation he described as worrying and must be addressed.
He said they are still confused as to who gave the 114 acres of lands in question to the company to expand their business.
He revealed that the 114 acres of land in dispute was initially given to one of the young residents to use with the help of others but following the encroachment of the Spring Agro Industries Ltd., the youth have been unable to work on the land.
He said they are worried that the whole community would be taken over by the company and they will be left with nothing to live on and feed their families, a situation he says spells doom for generations yet unborn.
He appealed to the authorities to make sure that the right thing was done and the right process followed to avoid any problems between the parties involved and to also put a stop to all illegal activities by the Spring Agro Industries limited.
The Assemblyman for the area, James Agorti, noted that he was summoned by the District Chief Executive for a meeting in regards to the land.
James Agorti suggested that the community should be allowed to cultivate on the land instead of treating them like strangers on their own land.
The Chief of Tedeafenui, Torgbe Owusu Gadzo, explained that the 700 acres of land given to Spring Agro Industries Ltd was under his supervision but he had to drop them off because of the unresolved issues surrounding it.
The DCE for Central Tongu, Thomas Atsu Moore Zonyrah, explained that the people have all the documents and have gone through all the processes in acquiring the lands for the cultivation of whatever they want to cultivate.
Mr. Zonyrah noted that the chiefs released the same land of 114 acres in dispute to the Spring Agro Limited and at the same time the youths also gave the same land to someone else from the community to use.
He said that the said person to whom the 114 acres of lands was given does not have a registered company.
He stressed that he is doing everything possible to have the issue resolved as soon as possible.
CEO of Spring Agro Industries Limited, Mr. Siddharth Mohindroo reacted to the issue, providing relevant documents to prove that the land has been legally leased to the company.
He further stated that, Spring Agro Industries Limited is just in the middle of a feud that might be between the youth and the elders of the community.
He however said he is ready for any legal remedy that will put the feud to a permanent end.
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