Minister fails truth test in Parliament

“Mr. Speaker, I am not aware that fifteen acres of land has been granted to the Assembly. However, if the House demands, I will cross check with the Ministry and furnish the information back to Parliament”, he noted. Mr. Agyekum argued that the ministry had not sanctioned any development of a portion of the Gardens’ 172-year old forest reserve into an office complex, an answer betraying the stance of the Akuapem South District Chief Executive.

“The Ministry is not aware of a permit being given to the District Chief Executive to construct an Assembly office complex”, he asserted. The DCE for the area, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, had constantly told the public that the Assembly’s encroachment of the Gardens’ forest reserve was sanctioned by the Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development.

The response from the deputy Minister, who is also the NDC MP for Nkoransa South, was in reaction to a question filed by the NPP MP for Akuapem South, Osei Bonsu Amoah. Hon. Amoah had asked his colleague legislator: “what measures the Ministry is putting in place towards the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Aburi Botanical Gardens”.

He further quizzed the deputy Minister whether in the scheme of things, the Assembly has been granted 15 acres of land to build Assembly Village as provided in the DCE’s address presented to the Assembly on May 14, 2013. The deputy Minister, commenting further told the legislature that the Ministry recognize the need to rehabilitate and upgrade the Aburi Botanical Gardens and were currently considering two options to that effect.

The options, he noted, were: A Public Private Partnership arrangement with a viable Private Sector Institution to upgrade and run the facility; and second Restructuring and upgrading of Department of Parks and Gardens to become resourceful to enable it effectively manage all Parks in the country including the Aburi Botanical Gardens. Such options, he told the House, have been drafted into a Memo yet to be sent to Cabinet for approval.

Mr. Agyekum’s unconvincing answers attracted lots of questions from other Members, with the Minority Leader expressing worry about the unawareness of the deputy Minister with regards to recent issues concerning the Aburi Botanical Gardens, when the former sector Minister, Kwasi Oppong-Fosu and then Eastern Regional Minister, Julius Debrah (now Minister for Local Government & Rural Development) had visited the place.

When further asked whether he and the Ministry were aware that the DCE had entered the gardens and was encroaching on the forest reserve, Mr. Agyekum answered in the negative. But surprisingly, Mr. Agyekum had on June 1st, 2014, just a day after Mr. Oppong-Fosu was relieved of his post, granted an interview to a local FM station pledging that the Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development would preserve the ecology of the Aburi Botanical Gardens.

We can’t do away with the Aburi Gardens; it is a symbol of this country and something very important to the environment,” Mr. Agyekum was quoted as saying by Citi News. Mr. Julius Debrah, on May 29, 2014, also gave the assurance that his outfit was committed to preserving the ecology of the Aburi Botanical Gardens and its adjoining undeveloped forest, following his visit to the gardens to ascertain the encroachment of the reserve by the DCE.

The Aburi Botanical Gardens covers an area of 160 acres (64.34 hectares), out of which 35 acres have been developed. The Garden is one of the leading gardens in the world for research into tropical botany. It is made up of orchids, flower plots, rock gardens, children’s park, nurseries and chalets (apartments for rental). It further has 13 hectares of undeveloped land (forest) reserved in its wild state, as a means of stabilising the ecology of the area.