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IT EMERGED at the Judgment Debt Commission that despite Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) abandoning a proposed landfill site at Kwabenya in 1995 due to encroachment, government still compensated the encroachers who occupied the site with over $1.47m. This was as a result of government�s inability to revoke an Executive Instrument (EI) it had passed in 2007, but had not used for its intended purpose. Testifying before the Justice Yaw Apau�s Commission of enquiry, Frederick Adu Danquah, a project consultant at the ministry of local government who appeared in respect of the acquisition of landfill site at Kwabenya said the ministry must take a firm decision on the matter and revoke the EI, saying, �it is up to the ministry to take a firm decision on it because the project ended in 2012.� Answering a question from the Sole Commissioner why government had passed EI and not used for the purpose it was meant for, he replied, �My Lord, I can�t speak for government but as the consultant who worked on the project, the issue with AMA acquiring the land was a priority.� He told the commission that because the project was a World Bank project; it was the bank�s policy under the agreement that government had to pay the encroachers for the inconvenience. �The bank�s policy made it so, we at the project unit disagreed with the bank, but the bank said we have disturbed the people and if we had entered into agreement with them earlier that the land will no longer be used due to the encroachment, justice will have been done,� but the Sole commissioner lamented, saying, �probably they had the facts wrong.� Briefing the commission about the status and how the acquisition was done, he said a landfill site project ground was proposed for Accra and Kwabenya and various site inspections were done and finally narrowed down to Kwabenya in 1995. Information on the file indicated that around 2003, AMA which the program belongs to started negotiations with the landlords and there was something on file that an amount of about 250m at the time was paid for drinks to the chiefs to start negotiations on the land. �Just as various announcements were made and publications in the papers that land was going to be used for a landfill site, there was agitation by the community around Kwabenya, we called them Agyeman Karta community. There was a tall documentation on the various agitations. We started a new project called urban and environmental sanitation project around 2003/4 and World Bank decided to take up the construction of the landfill site.� He said the demonstrations and agitations forced government at that time to set up a technical committeeto look at these agitations and technicalities of the project and submitted its report to government which was approved by cabinet. Mr. Danquah told the commission that information on files indicated that around 2007, the government issued the EI to acquire the land and documentation to show that the ministry of local government wrote to the ministry of finance for an amount of 23b old cedis to pay compensation to the land owners. Recommendation Reading portions of the technical committee�s recommendations, he said, �There is no doubt that the landfill site is a necessary thing, the government should as a matter of urgency secure a title to the land meant for the Kwabenya landfill project. �Government should not renege on its obligation towards stakeholders in the Kwabenya land. Government should make massive intervention in the provision of social amenities in the lives of the people. Special budgetary provisions should be made to acquire new earth moving equipment...for the day to day management of the Kwabenya landfill site when they become operational and steps should be taken to prevent people from encroaching upon the buffer zone. The employment of the people of Kwabenya should be a priority.� Encroachment He told the commission that as people started encroaching on the land, the land valuation board was asked to take stock of the encroachment. According to him, land valuation marked 76 property that were in different stages of development and asked all those who are involved in those buffer zones to come with their papers for documentation. Compensation He said though the World Bank deemed it fit what government was doing; its recommendation was that it should compensate the land owners so that the whole agitation will end. �...Nevertheless, the government did request the World Bank to assist for the payment of the structures which had been valued at $1.473m and agreed that we used the project funds to pay for the structures that is $1.47m and also $120, 000 for inconvenience because we have asked people to stop building, taking inventory and the bank thought that we needed to give them something for disturbance.� Sitting continues today.