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The Chief of Miotso, near Prampram within the Ningo-Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region, Nene Awule Kwame II, has said the government cannot use the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence as a testing centre for Covid-19 without first consulting the Chiefs within whose jurisdiction is the centre.

According to him, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) is not the rightful authority that the government should consult, but rather, the Chiefs of the area.

He said the community did not give the land where the soccer centre is situated to the GFA, but rather to the Ministry of Youth and Sports for a specific purpose, which is to construct a sport academy.

For that reason, he said, if the government intended to use the premises as a Covid-19 Isolation centre, the community and the Chiefs ought to be informed.

It was his case also that the GFA could not be the one to give the place to the government, since in the first place, the community did not deal with the GFA.

Nene Kwame, therefore, warned the government not to deal with the leadership of the GFA by way of releasing money to them, else "we will test the law."

His comments come after the government said the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence had been considered for use as a Covid-19 isolation centre.

"The land belongs to us, the people of Miotso. It is not for the GFA. We gave the land to Hon. E T Mensah and the Minsitry of Youth and Sports for a sports academy. And for now GFA enters into the yard, so we are appealing to the government not to give any money to the GFA (for using the centre) because we have not given any land to the GFA," he told the DAILY HERITAGES after a news conference on Wednesday.

He added that "The GFA should stay out of this and that if the government gives any money to the GFA, we will test the law because we have laws here and we want the right thing to be done.

We are not fighting government

He clarified it that he and his people "are not fighting the government for using our land for an Isolation centre," but rather they wanted the right thing to be done.

He added that the people government officials were engaging in the process for using the premises were not the right people and therefore urged them to be cautious.

"We are supporting the government in whatever it is doing. We are not saying that the government should not set up the Isolation centre here. We gave out the 20 acres of land for societal purpose."

Safety concerns

According to the Chief, they are with the government and don't have any issues with the place being used as an Isolation centre, but pointed out that the facility is not fenced and that could put them into a health risk, which in turn would put them in a state of fear and panic.

According to him, should any of those tested positive bolt like it has happend elsewhere, it put the entire community into jeopardy

He said the community is living in a state of fear and therefore suggest that the government, with immediate effect, should come to them to resolve the issue.

Consider using affordable houses

He suggested to the government to also consider using the Saglemi affordable housing project which has been lying idle as an isolation centre.