Encroachment on corporation’s lands: CDC goes offensive on perpetrators.

CDC General Manager, Franklin Ngoni Njie, made the declaration Wednesday April 3, during a visit to Ombe, in Esuke and Moliwe sections in Tiko Subdivision, Fako Division, where the corporation’s land has been possessed by unscrupulous individuals. 

The areas include parts of the CDC land that has been occupied by unknown individuals.

Speaking to the press during the visit, the CDC General Manager said, the corporation will take all measures to ensure the protection and preservation of its land, from dishonest individuals. 

After a tour of all the areas affected, the General Manager said management has established that there is a lot of damage that has been done to the corporation, whereby unknown persons have illegally settled on CDC plantations. 

The situation, he said, is unacceptable as the corporation intends to exploit every palm tree to the maximum. 

Franklin Njie regretted that unscrupulous individuals involved in pillaging CDC land, have taken advantage of the insecurity in the North West and South West Regions, to encroach into CDC land.

With a relative return of law and order in the affected areas, he said security is no longer an impediment in the affected areas. 

“The orientation of the CDC is that it is coming out of the crisis. In areas that are secured like Moliwe and Esuke, we cannot correctly say insecurity is an impediment to our performance,” he insisted.

The encroached land, it was discovered during the visit, have almost completed buildings, while there are pillars partitioning the land into plots and other demarcation marks. 

All structures erected by unknown individuals, according to the CDC General Manager, would be demolished.

In addition to the land being illegally occupied, the occupants have also destroyed most of the palms belonging to the CDC, a situation decried by the General Manager. 

The encroachment and destruction of CDC’s properties, Njie said, would make recovery of CDC land difficult.

Recovery of CDC crucial to fight social ills

The General Manager also revealed during the tour with his top collaborators, that the corporation is short of staff because of the destruction of farms, equipment and insecurity in some areas, which have resulted in some staff leaving the corporation. 

The situation, he said, has resulted in the corporation not being able to effectively exploit its full potential.

With the negative consequences of the crisis on CDC, visible in the destruction of the Illoani Oil Mill and the desertion of some farms, the General Manager stressed that the recovery hangs on the effective exploitation of every palm tree, rubber tree or banana plant. 

In this light, he implored CDC staff to remain assiduous and committed to protecting the corporation’s land, which he noted, are crucial in fighting social ills in the South West Region. 

“The recovery of CDC land is an important role in fighting the many ills facing our society today…a lot of negative energy has been unleashed on our society due to the plight of the CDC as a result of the crisis in the North West and South West Regions,” Franklin Njie affirmed.

Perpetrators to face long arm of the law

The CDC General Manager also reiterated management’s resolve to carry out thorough investigations into the land encroachment by the unknown individuals, insisting that perpetrators will face the music of their actions. 

He also promised to ensure that every CDC worker needed by the authorities for further investigations, will be presented to the investigating teams.

The GM also disclosed that the management of CDC had relieved some of the corporation’s workers, who are alleged to have been involved in the land encroachment racket, of their duties. The workers included those who failed to effectively carry out their responsibilities in either reporting or alerting management of the encroachment on the corporation’s land.