The Metropolitan Chief Executive of Tema, Ebi Bright, says the Tema Development Company Limited (TDC) has no planning or regulatory authority over physical development within the Tema metropolis and must obtain approval from the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).
According to her, the authority to regulate physical development in the metropolis rests exclusively with the assembly under Ghana’s local governance and planning laws.
Her comments come amid a growing dispute between the TDC and TMA over an infilling project at Community One Site Three.
The assembly has ordered TDC to halt work on the project, citing alleged breaches of planning and development regulations.
TDC, however, maintains that it has a “special” arrangement with the TMA that allows it to undertake developments without written permits from the assembly.
Madam Bright disputed this position, citing the Local Governance Act and subsequent legislation passed in 2016, which she said reinforced the planning authority of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies.
She explained that no person or entity could undertake physical development within a district without prior planning approval in the form of a development permit issued by the relevant planning authority.
Madam Bright acknowledged that TDC was established by an Act of Parliament in 1952 to plan and manage the development of Tema but said its former statutory planning authority was subsequently transferred to the local assembly.
She added that TDC ceased to operate in its former statutory form in 2017 and was replaced by TDC Company Limited, which now operates as a commercial real estate company.
“It’s a commercial state-owned enterprise. It doesn’t have any regulatory or planning authority,” she said.
According to Madam Bright, TDC’s own documentation acknowledges the need to obtain prior approval from the Tema District Assembly for developments, including roads, buildings, housing schemes and industrial and commercial projects.
The dispute has intensified over the Community One Site Three project, where the TMA has raised concerns over the alleged felling of about 50 trees, demolition of structures, encroachment on playgrounds and green belts, and obstruction of access routes.
Madam Bright said the impasse reflects a broader and long-running disagreement over the role and authority of TDC in Tema.
She maintained that there is no longer any legal ambiguity regarding the assembly’s planning mandate and called for the relevant laws to be enforced.
