The Wa Naa Alhaji Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo has expressed concerns and displeasure over the wanton sales of government lands in the Upper West Region.
He said the upsurge in the sales of unutilized state lands if not check will plunge the country into serious problems.
He said such vested lands if the government has no use for it should have been returned to the original owners but that is not the case. Raising the concerns when the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources called on him at his palace, Naa Pelpuo said the sales of such vested lands are either done by the lands commission or facilitated by the commission. This practice he said is unacceptable and must be stopped.
The Wa Naa also raised the concerns of multiple sales of lands in the region which has lead to many land litigations in the region. He said the various palaces are often inundated with cases of land dispute arising from the multiple sales.
He said a number of such cases potray the potential of turning into violent confrontations.
He noted that these challenges would be reduced to the bearest minimum if the lands commission and its various department are made to only accept land title applications properly routed through the Wala traditional council for processing and documentation.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor said the numerous land issues are been worked on. He said a technical team from Accra will be dispatch to the Upper West to resolve all such land issues.
Mr Jinapor also appealed to the Wa Naa to assist his ministry to fight the illegal mining and deforestation in the region. He said his ministry is working closely with the various regional security councils to win the war on illegal mining.
The sector minister noted that with mining taking place in the Upper West region government is doing everything possible to sanity the operations to prevent the numerous problems associated with mining activities in the various mining communities in the southern part of the country.
Story by:Kwaku Stephen