On Wednesday, eight persons were arrested for trespassing on land owned by the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA) near Tuba and Oblogo, where the GGSA holds equipment for earthquake monitoring in earthquake-prone locations.
The eight were apprehended erecting unauthorized constructions near the GGSA earthquake monitoring station at Oblogo and Tuba in the Weija-Gbawe and Ga South communities of the Greater Accra Region.
They are being held in police custody while they prepare for court.
The eight were detained on the orders of George Mireku Duker, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in charge of Mines.
The deputy minister, who led a team of police officers on an unannounced operation to clamp down on unlawful sand mining in the Weija-Gbawe and Tuba districts, also ordered that all unlicensed structures inside the GGSA monitoring area be demolished within one week.
Estate developers and private individuals had chipped away at the base of the mountainous GGSA enclave, leaving fractures on the hill, according to the researchers.
Many of the residential buildings on the top of the hill were threatened by the lacerations.
Buildings at the bottom of the hill were also vulnerable to loose rocks.
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) and the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Assembly had posted “stop work” warnings on structures that were growing up at the base of the hill, but the developers defied the order and continued their activities, according to Advertafrica.net.
There were chippings, blocks, and other building materials and personal things there, indicating that the criminals may have fled before the minister’s team arrived.
The obviously enraged deputy minister issued an arrest warrant for four people who were witnessed erecting a structure on the Oblogo hill.
The restricted earthquake zone at Tuba in the Ga South municipality had been reduced to gullies by sand winners and gravel miners.
In the steep earthquake zone, dozens of illegal constructions had sprouted.
Four people were arrested yet again for illegal construction.
Mr Duker stated that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources would go to great lengths to apprehend those responsible for the illegality.
“It is an earthquake zone, and no one is allowed to work or construct structures here. The assemblies must work and ensure that this people are cleared out,” he said.
The Minerals Commission had not issued any permits for anyone to win sand in that area, according to the deputy minister, so the assemblies must punish offenders.
He also urged security authorities to assist local assemblies in safeguarding the country’s legacy.
Nicholas Opoku, the head of the GGSA’s Geoharzard Department, said the residents of the earthquake zone were facing imminent seismic hazards, and that urgent action was needed to halt future development within that area.
He expressed concern that, despite multiple warnings from the GGSA, many people in the region continued to engage in illegal activities.
Thomas Dettor, Director of the Ga South Municipal Assembly’s Fiscal Planning Department, stated the assembly would do all possible to stop the illicit acts.
He said that the local Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) had devised a strategy to combat unlawful activity.
