The Western Regional House of Chiefs has applauded the President's decision to reclaim lands wrongfully acquired in the catchment area of oil fields in the region. It said the decision to claim lands from individuals and groups that acquired those lands with the intention of reselling them later was a step in the right direction. The President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs, Awulai Atibrukusu III, who was speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra, said the “decision is in the interest of the majority of the people of the area”. “The rate at which the wrongful acquisitions are going on, without due regard to the traditional leaders, it will get to a time when the chiefs will no longer be custodians of the land but slaves on their own land,” he said. During his recent tour of the Western Region, President John Evans Atta Mills declared the determination of the government to protect land in and around the catchment area of the oil fields for the future development of a petro-chemical industry in the region. President Mills, on many platforms, had reaffirmed his commitment to ensure that the oil find becomes a blessing to the country, not a curse. It was in fulfilment of that pledge that he promised to send a delegation to the area to ensure that lands not properly acquired were secured for the interest of future generations. Awulai Atibrukusu described the action of the government to go to the aid of the chiefs and people of the area as laudable, saying it would eventually inure to the benefit of society. He said he started the crusade to check the indiscriminate sale of land to some individuals and foreigners but he received condemnation from some “influential members in society”. “There are several chunks of land that are being acquired by people without due regard to proper procedures and the custodians of the land,” he said. The chief used the occasion to appeal to the President to ensure that indigenous people benefited from some development projects in the catchment area. He expressed concern over the way people who lived in areas where such projects were sited were neglected, saying, “I am delighted with the concern and commitment of the President in this project.” Source: Daily Graphic