Phyto � Riker Demolition Stopped

The Ga East Municipal Assembly has intervened to halt the intended demolition exercise that was scheduled by the Phyto Riker (GIHOC) Pharmaceuticals Limited for today following a court order in August 2008 in favour of the company over a 60 acre parcel of land situated at Achimota, along the Accra � Kumasi Highway and the Dome market through to the Dome Railway lines and beyond that has been encroached upon. This followed a tripartite meeting between officials of the Ga East Municipal Assembly, the company�s solicitors; Minkah-Premo & Co. and the �Dome Phyto-Riker Extension Residents Association.� A release issued by the Ga East Municipal Assembly said the Assembly would act as guarantors and would therefore, reconcile the two parties (Phyto-Riker and its �encroachers)� to ensure that all owners of encroached lands belonging to Phyto-Riker would atone Tenancy to the company. Counsel for the Company, Mr. Bonsu of Minka-Premoh & Company explained at the meeting that following the court�s order, the company was to demolish all the buildings in the encroached land but had decided to have value for money through the sale of part of the plots of land to the occupants who would be required to pay an amount of GH�25,000.00 spread over a period of not more than six months. �Proceeds from the sale of the land would be used to settle the company�s indebtedness to the government by way of grounds rent to the lands commission which has accumulated over the years in the wake of encroachment and the legal tussle over the ownership of the land before the court�s ruling in favour of the company. �During the divestiture of GIHOC, all the said land were valued and included in the properties and sold to Phyto-Riker despite it being encroached,� it said. The release said squatters who failed to comply with the payment after a yet to be agreed date would have their properties demolished as bulldozers had been arranged to that effect and were on the stand by. The arrangement, it said would also afford the residents the opportunity to regularize their occupancy with title deeds to be issued by the company to enable the assembly to deal with the issuance of buildings permits.