Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul, has told Parliament that government is aiming at completing the construction of a military training school on the disputed Nkonya-Alavanyo land in 2018.
According to him, structures for the establishment of a military school on the disputed Alavanyo and Nkonya lands, are about 70 percent complete.
[contextly_sidebar id=”kvMwh7pgPTQ8uQPUhQEZF3r3nvooTzHz”]Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday during the debate over the Ministry’s 2018 budgetary allocation, Dominic Nitiwul said the disputed land was suitable for a jungle training school for the military, but lack of funds had resulted in the stalling of the project.
“In view of the fact that the structures are not fully completed, the School is not functioning currently as proposed. It is however envisaged that, when funds become available in 2018, the Training School would be completed for commissioning and operationalization. In the meantime, it is envisaged that occasionally, some Jungle Welfare exercises from Akim Achiase Jungle Welfare School will be conducted on the disputed land.”
Dominic Nitiwul told Parliament in July 2017 that the government had decided to take over the land to serve as a military base.
He told the House that he believes the move will help resolve the over a century old conflict between Nkonya and Alavanyo that has resulted in the loss of many lives.
“We on our part the security we’ll start training in that particular area, the structures have already been put there, to ensure that the security is permanently present there because we need land to train so if people have land and they give to us to train and they are disputing over it, we will go and use that place to train,” he said.
The Volta Regional Minister, Archibald Letsa, had earlier hinted of government’s plan to take over the land, adding that both factions; Nkonya and Alavanyo had agreed to the takeover.
Mr. Letsa on a visit to the area after a shooting incident, said government was determined to ensure that lasting peace prevails in the area to pave way for accelerated development, but lamented that the two feuding factions are not giving peace a chance, a situation that has virtually turned the two traditional areas into ghost areas, starving them of the needed investment to stimulate growth.
He however assured them that as soon as sanity returns to the area, he will do whatever it takes to move investments there.
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By: Fred Djabanor/citifmonline.com/Ghana