In Monday’s edition of The Chronicle we reported that criminals had cut down about 19,000 rubber trees belonging to Ghana Rubber Estate Limited (GREL). The trees, which were planted in 2021 and 2022, were on 30 hectares of land at Gyabenkrom in the Ahanta West Municipality of the Western Region.
The police are still investigating the reasons behind the destruction of the economic trees, which has resulted in the arrest of an Odikro and some others, who were obviously against the cultivating of the land by the rubber company.
Information available to us indicates that GREL acquired state lands for its rubber plantation through Executive Instruments 43, 44, 45, 46 and 58 of 1968, covering a total land area of 36,00ha (90,000 acres).
As a result of requests from chiefs, and agitations by some communities in GREL’s operational areas in the past, a Committee of Enquiry was set up by the Government of Ghana in June 1993, to investigate these land requests and disputes.
The report of the Committee of Enquiry into the land disputes, issued in October 1993, recommended that GREL cede several hectares of its land to the communities, and also suspend some planned expansion programmes.
As a result, about 20,000 hectares, out of the 36,000 of state land acquired by Executive Instrument 43,44,45,46 and 58 in 1968, have been ceded to the various communities. This development, in our opinion, shows clearly that GREL cannot, on its own, decide to cede lands to the communities, unless it is backed by an Executive Instrument (EI).
The Chronicle is, therefore, surprised that the suspects in the case, if it is true that they cut down the economic trees in protest against the occupation of their lands by the rubber company, did not first approach the Nzema chiefs who gave out the land for proper briefing before taking the action they reportedly took.
The Chronicle is worried about the development, because it kills the investment drive that the government has embarked upon to bring investors into the country. No proper investor will come and invest in the country if their investment will not be safe.
As the Association of Nzema Chiefs indicated, when they visited the destroyed plantation, the conduct of the suspects is a clear case of vandalism.
The Chronicle is, therefore, appealing to the police to thoroughly investigate the case and make those behind the crime face the full rigours of the law. Even if the indigenes have the legitimate right to the land, it does not give them the authority to vandalise the plantation. Ghana is ruled by laws, where people cannot get up and do whatever pleases them.
Since this is not the first time such destruction has taken place in the community, the best way to deal with the issue is to punish the perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others who may be contemplating committing the same offence in future.
GREL is one of the major economic actors in the Western Region, providing livelihood support to more than 70,000 people, and if any unlawful invasion of concessions continues, it is going to have a direct impact on the numerous social investment schemes for the localities.
This is more the reason why the government must take the bull by the horns to bring the disturbances in the area to an end.
