By Dennis Peprah Nkrankrom
(Bono), May 15, GNA – The Dormaa Customary Stool Land Secretariat of the Dormaa Traditional Council, has sensitized farmers at Nkrankrom and its adjoining communities in the Sunyani Municipality on land use and spatial planning.
With support from the Bono and Bono East Regional Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL), more than 100 farmers, including chiefs and queens benefited from the sensitization.
Discussions mostly centred on proper land, demarcation, use and management, as the surrounding farmlands in the area turned to human settlements.
According to Mrs Georgina Rockson, the Bono and Bono East Regional Officer of the OASL, the forum sought to enlightened the farmer on spatial planning to stem haphazard development in the area.
In an interview with the media on the side-lines of the forum, she said the law required that farmers and land owners, the Secretariat, and traditional authorities collaborate with the OASL for the demarcation of lands for building purposes.
By doing so, Mrs Rockson said, development in emerging settlements and communities would not only be well planned, but also make the value of lands more appreciated.
She urged the farmers and owners to pay their grounds and land rent, saying it was mandatory for every owner to do so.
Mr Kofi Manu, popularly known as “blue boy”, the Administrator of the Dormaa Customary Land Secretariat, also told the media that the farmers and land owners ought to be enlightened on land use and management, as the surrounding farmlands turned to human settlement.
As stool lands, he said the secretariat had the responsibility to undertake community sensitization and intensified awareness creation on land use and proper management.
Mr Manu said the secretariat was undertaking a community-to-community sensitization for the people to be more enlightened on customary lands.
That, he said, would stem unhealthy misunderstanding, legal battles and land disputes as well as multiple land sales.
GNA
DEN/LKA