Air Commodore Kwabena Kissiedu Manukure Atiemo, Commander of the Air Force Base Takoradi, has bemoaned the worrying menace of encroachments.
According to him, almost 88 acres of land, out of over 600 acres allocated by the central government for the Takoradi Air Force Base in the Western Region, have been taken over by encroachers.
He made this known to Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson, during the Minister’s familiarization visit on the base’s operations, core mandate, and challenges.
“Encroachment is one of our big problems, and it is basically down to land administration issues and our failure over the years to secure cadastral for the entire space I am currently pushing very hard, continuing the efforts of the previous base commander, to do that for this section, which represents about 88 acres of 618 acres that we should be able to control.“
He called for urgent attention to address these pressing issues confronting the Airforce .
“And I would solicit your specific help not only to gain control of that land.”
In response, the western regional minister Joseph Nelson assured the command of his support in vigorously protecting the lands, particularly those within primary operational enclaves.
“ I believe it’s something we can do. I think that largely, your parenting ministry, with the Ministry of Defense, has a huge responsibility. In that regard, we’ve played a complementary role in helping you resolve some of these challenges the last few years, but I think that we still must find a way to resolve some of this critical issue that is the heart of the provision of security for us as a country”.
