Takoradi, March 16, GNA - Air Commodore Sampson Oje, Commander of the Takoradi Airforce Station said at the weekend that there was increasing encroachment on the Unit's lands, warning that the situation posed threats to the Station's plans to expand its facilities. He said private developers and some land owners had been selling lands around and within the boundaries of the Station. Commodore Oje was speaking to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Roads and Transport and board members of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority.

The group, led by Aviation Minister Gloria Akuffo, was on a working visit to the Station as part of their tour of airports. He said the Takoradi Airforce Station was saddled with several court cases over land and this was hindering their operational activities.

He said in many of the cases, the Airforce did not have the documentation to back its ownership and that many of the encroachers rather had documents approved by the Lands Commission. Commodore Oje announced that the Station will soon establish a weapon shed and shooting range for training of personnel and also prevent further encroachment.

He said the development of illegal structures as a result of the encroachment and inappropriate farming activities had also led to serious obstructions on the Station's main drainage system. Mrs Akuffo said encroachment of land was a major challenge facing several government establishments and institutions and blamed the situation partly on the country's land tenure system.