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It is now official that the proposed Shopping Mall Project which is to be constructed on a 28 acre plot of land for which the Tanokrom artisans who were then occupying the land in question were inhumanely ejected to pave way for the project may not come on after all. This is as a result of the Ghana�s Air Force�s continuous resistance against the project. The Air force had over the last few months maintained that the location for the intended mall project, which is near the Takoradi Air Force base, was within a flying zone and could therefore hamper aviation activities. The position of the Air Force was contained in report issued by the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) raising red flag over the project but city authorities and government officials flatly rejected the report and went on to eject the Tanokrom artisans for the project to commence. But, the Ghana Air Force had openly come out at this year�s West African Soldiers Social Activities (WASSA) Celebration for personnel of the Takoradi Air Force base held at the weekend to state it position on the project. The Chief of Air Staff of the Ghana Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Michael Samson Oje, addressing the WASSA pointed out that, the project in the aforementioned area was in a flying zone. Commander Oje bluntly put it that the location for the facility was wrong, explaining that before the discovery of oil and the commercialization of the Takoradi Airport, the Air Force had no problems with the citing of the shopping mall at the said location. This was because the type of aircrafts, which the Air Force used at the time were small and sophisticated enough to manage the situation. However, since the discovery of oil, the airport has become too open to commercial aircrafts, which were in different category and size. As a result, citing the shopping mall at the aforementioned aviation zone could cause danger to landing and taking-off of aircrafts. Air Vice Marshal Samson Oje also took a swipe at city authorities and other government officials in the metropolis who have been pushing for the construction of the mall irrespective of the dangers it could pose to aviation activities. Considering the differences between the Air Force, city authorities and government over the construction of the Shopping Mall, the matter according to Air Vice Marshall Oje had been referred to the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). It would be recalled that the construction of the Takoradi Shopping Mall project had been fraught in controversies following the inhuman manner in which the several thousands of artisans who were operating on the land in question were ejected. The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA) which led the ejection exercise against the artisans failed to provide an alternative land for them to settle on in order to continue with their trade. For now, the artisans are stranded and scattered because they have no other place to continue with their businesses. Apart from the above controversy, the Shopping Mall project got embroiled in another fresh argument when the Ghanaian investor and initiator of the project, Mr. Peter Obosu, who is also the Managing Director of Peekob Company Limited was stabbed in the back after initiating the Shopping Mall Project. This, followed the manner in which the 28 acre plot of land on which the project would be built was hurriedly registered in the name of Western Development Consortium Limited (WDCL), a company owned by government appointees in the metropolis. The Initiator of the project, Mr. Peter Obosu is currently seeking redress, praying the court to debar management of WDCL from accessing the US$3milion cash, which a South African Banking firm, West Port Rand Merchant Bank is to honor as part payment of an agreement reached between him (Obosu) and the Bank to finance the project.