The Vice Chairman of Parliament's Select Committee on Local Government and Rural Development, Charles Agbeve, has described the demolition of the 70-year-old Tindamba Primary School in Wa as both unfortunate and shocking.

His comments come after more than 200 pupils were left without classrooms following the demolition of the school to make way for the construction of a government-sponsored 24-hour economy market project.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM's Newsnight on Thursday, June 18, Mr Agbeve said members of the committee were surprised by reports of the demolition and had not anticipated such a development.

"Let me tell you that it's quite unfortunate. What happened is quite big news to us. I'm also shocked by it," he said.

According to him, the project in question is largely a local initiative and has been affected by a number of issues, including land ownership disputes.

He explained that some of the challenges surrounding the project had previously ended up in court before being resolved outside the judicial process.

"With the information available to us, there were local issues involved. There were several factors, including matters that went to court and were later settled outside court. In the end, the issue came down to the landowner," he stated.

He encouraged assemblies to register and properly secure ownership of lands, suggesting that the situation at Tindamba Primary School might have been avoided if the Ghana Education Service, through the district, had formally owned the land on which the school was located.

“I believe that if the Ghana Education Service, through the district, had owned that school land, we would not have gotten here,” he added.