CONSTRUCTION OF SHOPS IN BUFFER ZONE ANGERS TRADERS (PAGE 3, AUGUST 14, 2010)

CONSTRUCTION of a retail shop/warehouse by Diplo FZ Limited, a Lebanese company within the ‘no man’s land’ or a buffer zone between the Ghana and Cote d’lvoire border near the Elubo border post in the Jomoro District of the Western Region has irked the sensibilities of traders in the area.
At a press conference at Elubo to express their concerns about the project, the local traders contended that the huge building had the potential to compromise security along the Elubo section of the border.
The huge building, which has been completed and is expected to be opened by the end of this year, is located on a pedestrian pathway very close to the security fence of the Elubo border post.
Articulating the position of the traders, Mr Evans Ampomah Dacosta, the Secretary of the Elubo Traders Association, said the traders were apprehensive about the project and called for the project to be stopped immediately in the interest of national security and the Elubo township.
Dacosta stated categorically that the operation of the Lebanese company outside the security fence would not only be inimical to the security of the nation but would also encourage smuggling and other subversive acts and, therefore, should not be countenanced.
“We the traders of Elubo totally condemn in no uncertain terms any Ghanaian who is toying with our livelihood by supporting the Lebanese against the national interest,” he stressed.
Mr Ampomah Dacosta said the claim that the Lebanese would sell limited items and not retail was a figment of somebody’s imagination.
He explained that Diplo FZ Limited, a subsidiary of Forwin Ghana Limited, came to Elubo as a wholesaler of drinks and that just about four years ago it started selling everything including tomato paste, black tread used by women to plait their hair, mobile phones and machetes.
He, therefore, urged the government to consider the security of the country, the interest of Ghanaian traders, the interest of the landowners, the people of Elubo and the Elubo township.
“Without the Ivorians entering Elubo to buy, there will be no Elubo and this can only come about if the Lebanese will be allowed to operate behind the security fence where the Ivorian traders will get everything to buy without entering Elubo,” he emphasised.
The Abusua Panyin of the Royal Asona Stool Clan of Elubo, Nana J.B. Mensah, noted that when the construction of the building was started, the national security gave an order for work on the project to be stopped.
He said the Lebanese first feigned obedience or compliance and stopped the work for sometime but later on continued in full swing.
He said further investigations revealed that whilst the structure was erected outside the security fence or in the ‘no man’s land’, the original security fence had been redirected.
This behaviour of the Lebanese and his collaborators is seen by many in our area as an affront to our sovereignty and a threat to our national security,” he said, adding, “Remember that our fears are genuine, since we are the front-line targets in case of any eventuality”.