Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay, says his son, Kwaw Worsemao Blay, secured the land on which Polo Beach Club was built through a lease from the La Traditional Council.
According to him, his son was directed to the traditional authorities after engaging the management of the Labadi Beach Hotel over the use of the land.
“My son got his lease from the traditional stool. He spoke to the hotel too, and they told him to speak to the stool. He went to an agreement and they gave him the land,” he said.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, Mr Blay said there was also a disagreement between his son and the hotel over the use of a portion of land for parking.
He said the hotel refused to provide parking space for the facility, forcing his son to return to the traditional authorities, who subsequently allocated land to him.
“At one point, the hotel came to say that the place was for them and they had to go to court,” Mr Blay explained.
He said the dispute involved both noise levels and ownership of the property.
According to him, the court directed that the sound level be reduced on an interim basis, a directive he said his son complied with.
On the ownership of the property, Mr Blay said the court indicated that the hotel would have to produce documents proving ownership if it claimed the land belonged to it.
“The court said it wasn’t for them. If it were, they should bring the documents,” he said.
Mr Blay said the matter remained before the court until the hotel recently discontinued the case.
He alleged that following the discontinuation, the hotel engaged the National Security Secretariat and the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) in efforts to have the property removed.
He said his son was not contacted before the demolition exercise and that the family only heard rumours that authorities were planning to take action.
“My son wasn’t contacted. We heard the rumours that they wanted to come and take action, and we knew it was before the court, so however they had discontinued the case, we went ahead to get an injunction,” he said.
Mr Blay alleged that security personnel arrived at the facility at dawn and demolished the property without giving his son or his staff adequate opportunity to remove their belongings.
“The National Security came at dawn to bring the place without giving them the opportunity to even get some things out of the place. Everything was taken down,” he said.
Polo Beach Club, owned by Kwaw Worsemao Blay, was recently demolished as part of an exercise targeting structures along the La Beach area.
The demolition has been justified by SSNIT as part of efforts to remove what it describes as unauthorised occupants and activities from the beachfronts adjoining the Labadi Beach Hotel and La Palm Royal Beach Hotel.
SSNIT has cited concerns over the safety and security of hotel guests, employees and visitors, as well as unauthorised access to restricted areas, fire risks, sanitation and environmental concerns.
The Trust has also argued that continued construction and activities along the beachfront are contributing to the degradation of the coastal ecosystem.
However, Mr Blay disputes the characterisation of the businesses as encroachers, insisting that commercial activities have existed along the beachfront for decades, predating the construction of the hotels.
He said the La Traditional Council has indicated that several operators in the area pay rent to the traditional authorities.
Mr Blay maintained that the beachfront has developed into a significant tourism and entertainment economy and argued that the demolition exercise could have negative consequences for the hospitality sector.
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