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The Concerned Youth of La today, demonstrate against the sale of La Aviation football park and the entire La Civil Aviation lands to private estate developers by the La Traditional Authorities.

The Aviation park they indicated was an insignificant portion of the entire aviation lands that was released by the Civil Aviation Authority to the La Stool recently.

According to the Concerned Youth, the decision taken by the La Elders, Government and the Civil Aviation Authority does not gone down well with them and that, should they go ahead and sell the Aviation park, the implications would be that over 7,000 youth together with first and second division teams who are using the park are going to be denied of the use of the park.

The Aviation park in question they pointed out, is the only surviving community park in La and therefore, the moment it is sold, there would be no way the youth can get football and other sporting activities to develop La.

A lot of the youth according to them are going to be pushed into the various social vices when the Aviation park is sold out.

The Concerned Youth therefore, have petitioned the La Municipal Chief Executive and called for an urgent intervention and reverse of the sale of the La Aviation football park and the entire La Civil Aviation lands.

They also express their sadness with the circumstances surrounding the sale of the entire La Civil Aviation lands saying, the capacity of the Traditional Authorities who government engaged the allocation of the released lands to patties involved in the released arrangements and the subsequent sale of the released lands to private developers remained a source of worry to them.

However, in response to the allegations made by the Concerned Youth of La, Nii Adjei Koofeh IV, La Shikitele (Kingmaker) and Supreme Head of Nmati Abonase and Member of La Traditional Council explained that, the land in question is a subject to a redevelopment arrangement between the La Stool and the Government which was executed some years back adding that, it is a place earmarked for redevelopment.

“The parks have been there for some time now but they are not parks that have been designated in our planning scheme as playing field. For a park to be recognized legally as a recreational ground, it has to be earmarked or designated as such in the planning scheme of the Assembly. If that have been the case, we would have no case to include that in the redevelopment because by law, it shouldn’t be touched, but that is not so. Since the redevelopment would affect it, we as Chiefs decided to build an astroturf within the Wireless school for them”.

He averred that, it is not that they intentionally sold a park that is going to deny the people of the area their playing right but said, the truth of the matter is that, the park is not designated as a playing group.

“We are Law abiding Chiefs and if the land have been designated as a playing field, we would not touch it but, out of love for our own Townfolks, that is why we are developing the astroturf”.