A group calling itself the Concerned Citizens of Sekondi in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolis of the Western Region has warned the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) to desist from any move that will thwart the development of a proposed Takoradi shopping Mall.
According to the group, the two institutions which supported earlier works on the 23-acre land adjacent the Takoradi Jubilee Grounds have taken a sudden turn and are now against the project.
The Sekondi Takoradi Metro Chief Executive, Captain Anthony Cudjoe (Retired) had earlier cautioned the two institutions over the project.
According to the convener of the group, Kirk Mensah Richard, the group will resist any move by the GCAA and the GAF to halt the development of the Mall.
“…we are asking the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ghana Armed Forces to as a matter of urgency sit down and begin talks with STMA to allow the project to commence…we the youth will oppose any attempt to deny the people of the western region the thousands of jobs and business opportunities the mall project will bring,” the statement said.
The land in question was at the centre of controversy that led to a series of demonstrations by the Tanokrom Kokompe artisans who were forcibly ejected to Kansaworado Mampong, a suburb of Sekondi.
The group says it does not understand why the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ghana Armed Forces are against the project when they allowed a portions of that piece of land to be used for the construction of the Jubilee Grounds in Takoradi.
Kirk Mensah Richard in an interview with Citi News said Takoradi also needs the level of development seen around the Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
“When you go to Accra Airport, there are a lot of developmental projects around it. If it is not good for such developmental projects around the airport, then they should start demolishing those infrastructural projects. If that is done, we the people of Sekondi Takoradi will support their call of preventing any other projects around the Takoradi Airport”. Mensah Richard said.
