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FIVE MONTHS after sacking artisans amid protests from the 28 acre land at Tanokrom, a suburb of Takoradi, to put up a modern Shopping Mall, the disputed land still lies fallow. Investigations conducted by The Chronicle have revealed that Mr. Peter Obosu, Managing Director of Peekorb Company limited, initiator of the project is being pushed aside for another company to take over, hence the delay. It has emerged that a new company, Western Development Consortium Limited (WDCL) has been formed to oversee the construction of the Mall. The 28 acre land had also been registered in the name of the new company, instead of Peekorb. The West Port Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), South Africa based banking firm, which was approached by Peekorb to fund the Shopping Mall project is ready to make available $1.6 million for the start of the project, but the dispute as to who was the originator of the project has stalled the release of the funds. Mr. Peter Obosu, Managing Director of Peekorb, would neither deny nor confirm the dispute over the project. He only told this reporter that he had asked his counsel to take the necessary steps to protect his intellectual right. The Chronicle can, however, report that Peekorb had filed a motion for Interlocutory injunction at a Sekondi High Court, praying it to stop West Port Rand Merchant Bank from releasing $1.6 million as part payment for the building of the Shopping Mall. Peekorb also wants the court to stop the two defendants from carrying out any activity on the 28 acre Land until determination of the case. The Court, presided over by Justice Kofi Akrowiah, had fixed the 20th of October, 2014, to give ruling on the case. The case has Peekorb Company Limited as Plaintiff and WDCL and West Port RMB as defendants. The genesis of the story is that in 2009, Mr. Peter Obosu, who owns Peekorb Company Limited developed a concept to build a shopping Mall in Takoradi and consequently approached an Investor from South Africa, P-Project, which expressed interest in funding the project. As a result, Peekorb, which was then based in Accra, flew down to Takoradi in search of land to build the proposed Shopping Mall. A Search was done at the Lands Commission on the 28 acre land at Tanokrom, which was being occupied by artisans. The search revealed that the land belonged to the Government of Ghana and had been earmarked for an aerodrome extension. The search was conducted after Peekorb had sold the idea to the then Mayor of the Sekondi-Takoradi (STMA), Kobina Pra-Annan, who endorsed the project. The STMA, together with Peekorb, subsequently held a joint stakeholders meeting with the Assembly members to solicit their views on whether or not the 28 acre land should be acquired by Peekorb for the Shopping Mall project. At the end of the Stakeholders Meeting, the Assembly members unanimously agreed that Peekorb should acquire the land, but should relocate the artisans, who were then occupying it. Information available to this reporter indicates that when the current Mayor, Capt. Anthony Cudjoe (RTD), took over from his predecessor, he was also briefed about the project and endorsed it. Peekorb later abrogated the agreement with P-Project to fund the project, when it realized that the latter was delaying in releasing funds for the start of the project. Peekorb subsequently approached RMB from South Africa, which expressed interest in financing the project. Surprisingly, when Peekorb applied to the Lands Commission (LC) to acquire the land in question, it was given a flimsy excuse that Peekorb, which had been in existence for 7 years, was too young to acquire the land. Surprisingly, the same Land Commission went ahead to register the land in the name of WDCL, a company purportedly formed by some political leaders in Sekondi-Takoradi which is not even 2 years old. The LC decision to register the 28 acre land in the name of the WDCL comes after a government appointee supported why WDCL should be given title to the land. It would be recalled that Peekorb Company Limited, together with the Mayor of the STMA, Captain Anthony Cudjoe (Rtd), led a crusade to relocate the artisans who were then occupying the land.