District assemblies compromised in protecting ramsar sites – Linda Ocloo

The Regional Minister for Greater Accra, Linda Ocloo, has stated that district assemblies have been compromised in their duties to prevent illegal construction activities on the Sakumono and Tema Ramsar sites.

This comes after the regional minister, in the company of security officers, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, led a demolition exercise at the environmentally protected sites to halt ongoing unauthorised building projects.

In an interview on Eyewitness News with Serlorm Adonoo, the minister explained why the district assemblies had not taken effective action to curb the illegal developments.

“We noticed that a lot of the people have been compromised and that is a challenge we are facing. That is why I have to come in as a regional minister. We spoke to the assemblies about three weeks ago to tell the people to stop work, but the feedback we got was that when they told the people, they still went ahead to do what they were doing. So, we had to come in and that is why today, you saw us there,” she stated.

Addressing the situation, Linda Ocloo emphasised the need for strict enforcement of environmental regulations and existing laws to protect the Ramsar sites.

She stated that a dedicated task force would be deployed to monitor and safeguard the areas, ensuring compliance with all relevant legal provisions.

The Sakumono and Tema Ramsar sites are ecologically significant areas meant to be protected from human encroachment.