TAKORADI, GHANA - The residents of Ghana's oil city Sekondi-Takoradi on Thursday expressed dismay over the continuous sales of public lands by government officials.

The anger of the citizens was fuelled by the recent sale of Kasuarina Belt, a piece of land located in the center of the city, to an automobile company by the metropolitan assembly.

They said top regional government officials were selling huge plots of public lands to foreign investors and private individuals amid high demand for land in the city, 218 kilometers west of capital Accra.

As the city is congested with human and vehicular traffic, it is not appropriate to sell the piece of land within the city that can be used as a recreation facility, said Francis Eghan, spokesperson for the residents.

According to the residents, the Kasuarina Belt was currently the only piece of land left in the central business district of the city, and had been preserved since 1922 for future developments.

A planned a massive demonstration to protest against the sales was refused by the regional police command, as it said the protest could disrupt the country's preparations for the forthcoming elections in December.

Eghan said the citizens would petition the president to intervene to revise the earlier decision.

Meanwhile, Mayor of Sekondi-Takoradi Capt. Anthony Cudjoe explained that the land in question was not sold but was leased for a period of 50 years, and therefore posed no development challenge to the metropolis.

He noted that before the Kasualina Belt was leased, the Physical Planning Department of the metropolitan assembly had done a diligent assessment of the area and came to the realization that it would be beneficial to the people.