Three persons have been arrested by the KNUST police, following hostilities between a land developer and some youth at Emena community, in the Oforikrom Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
The three were arrested last Saturday when they tried to stop a private developer from constructing a road through the public cemetery to her private apartment.
Incensed by this development, the youth threatened to cause mayhem if the arrested persons are not released.
The Assembly Member for Emena-Boadi Appaiahdu-Kokobe electoral area, Kenneth Owusu Bediako confirmed that the misunderstanding begun when a private developer decided to pull down graves at the cemetery to construct an accessible road to her house.
But some residents in the community tried to stop the work, sparking agitations among the youth, while some elders in the community have vowed to resist attempts by any individual to destroy the town’s cemetery.
Mr. Owusu Bediako said he is yet to meet the person in question, who is believed to have desecrated the cemetery.
The Assembly Member has called on the residents in the community to exercise restraint, whilst he liaises with relevant authorities to deal with the situation and find a solution to the problem, to avert any future occurrence.
The Assembly Member, Owusu Bediako, has appealed to the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II,to ensure that Emena gets a chief to manage the affairs of the town,in the absence of which has resulted in the wanton sale of lands to private developers.
Meanwhile,elders of Asona Clan of the Emena community have petitioned the Asantehene, His Royal Majesty, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to intervene and stop the encroachment on the cemetery and help avert hazardous health issues as a result.
They condemned unchecked encroachment in the area and the great anguish caused to families of dug up graves in the recent development.
The petitioners bemoaned the sale of the land space demarcated as public cemetery, as contained in the site plan drawn by the Town and Country planning department in 1992 for residential purpose.
