It’s shocking the way we’re doling out lands and other properties that hold rich heritage of our country for the construction of majestic buildings such as shopping malls. There’s only one explanation for this: we’re not interested in preserving and protecting the history of our people.
It appears we have fallen in love with shopping mall than the education of our people because the enthusiasm to put up skyscrapers, these days has risen higher than that of school structures, disappointingly, at a time when more of our children are still learning under trees.
I am not against putting up high rise buildings in places that house ugly ones, but we can’t allow such things on lands that tell our stories – the stories about our existence.
One unfolding story that has attracted my attention is the decision by the Lands Commission with backing from government to sell the land on which the Ghana School of Survey and Mapping (GSSM) is sited to a private developer.
Some documents in circulation indicate the land will be used for the construction of a shopping mall although the Lands Commission has denied this. A notice served the school authorities said the school’s building; offices and administration block were to be razed by November 20, 2015. But miraculously the developer didn’t move to site as stated and the school is still there.
Since the communication in 2015, the School’s Students Representative Council (SRC) has consistently engaged with government, Lands Commission and other relevant stakeholders to halt the sale of the land, but it has not sunk in.
The developer or contractor has now moved to site and has cordoned off the land with some aluminium sheets at a time student agitation is mounting.
Although the thought that went into the decision to use the land for other purposes might be noble, I think the decision in itself is faulty. Former Ghanaian diplomat K. B. Asante was apt when in a 2015 article he wrote against the sale of the land and said, “Turning heritage sites into shopping malls is no development.”
I think the rather impulsive actions and decisions of our leaders these days stem from their lack of knowledge about the people they are governing. It is easy to take decisions on certain issues so long as one is not properly informed about the choices opened to him.
I don't think the relevance of GSSM or the historical appeal of the land is in doubt here.
The School, established in 1921 by Sir Gordon Guggisberg has lived up to its statute by training surveyors to meet the country’s needs. These people, with little reservations, have contributed to the socio-economic development of the country.
I have on countless occasions registered my dissatisfaction with the pitiful state of the school. The school appears to be an orphan on a land that could have been developed to expand it if we were interested.
There is a school of thought that the school should be closed down if it is no longer suitable as a place for learning. Some of the surveyors want the school’s instruments and documents of interest to be preserved because of the proclivity of the Ghanaian for the destruction of old records.
Honestly, I don’t subscribe to that school of thought. I believe the country still needs more surveyors to properly help with the development of our cities that are increasingly getting choked because of poor planning.
If the GSSM building is not attractive and appealing, government should make the money available for that investment.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said he will prioritise the education of Ghanaians when he was sworn into office on January 7. The GSSM story presents a classic case for him to intervene by ensuring that the agreement with the private developer is relooked at.
It’s true the school is sitting on a prime land that is of interests to the private developers, but we can’t sell it.
We need to keep the school, the land and its rich history. The very moment we endorse the sale of GSSM land, we have automatically given license to the sale of strategic heritage sites like the Christianborg Castle at Osu.
If at any time it becomes necessary to sell any property that has links to our past as a people, we need to ensure that property is protected to preserve our history.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS