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Mrs Cecelia Abena Dapaah, Minister of Aviation, has tasked the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the Lands Commission and other stakeholders, to take immediate steps to halt encroachment of lands in the perimeter area of the Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Directional Range (DVOR) as it could impede Aircraft safety.

She said Ghana would not compromise on its hard-won aviation safety reputation and would put an end to any practice that undermined safety of the users of Ghana’s aerodromes.

She was speaking to representatives of some of the stakeholders and the media on Tuesday when she led the team to pay a working visit to the site of the DVOR; the navigational equipment used by the Air Navigation Services department of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority to help aircraft stay on course.

This, according to the Minister, followed reports of encroachment and breach of the height requirements for buildings close to the area.

The Ghana Civil Aviation regulations (GCAR) part I, l 1818, establishes the requirements for the construction of structures that may project high in the airspace for the protection of the airspace and vests power in the GCAA to conduct obstruction evaluation for proposed construction or alteration and to grant airspace safety permits.

The Authority also required, as part of its safety measures, that no buildings at all be constructed within a 300-metre radius of the DVOR. However, some encroachers had flouted this measure, with new buildings seen coming up within the perimeter.

Mrs Dapaah said this was unacceptable and stressed the need to ensure that the 300 meter clear zone was observed. “That one is a must for all of us,” she stated.

She reiterated the need for collaboration and building of stakeholder consensus among the various institutions involved in ensuring the security of the aerodrome equipment, including the Ministry, GCAA, Lands Commission and others.

“If we sit down for people to build high-rises around, we will be shooting ourselves, not in the foot, but in the head, she stated, citing the new developments that were being put up right outside the first 150 meter perimeter area, and urged those who gave the permits for the development to reconsider it as it will not be permitted.

She charged the Lands Commission to initiate immediate steps to get the necessary approvals to demolish structures on the encroached area.

Mr Simon Allotey, Director General of the GCAA, said developments around the equipment could interfere with the accuracy of the signals, thus the need to maintain the 150 metre radius inner perimeter fence and a further 150-meter outer protection around the DVOR, adding that, while there maybe developments outside this 300 metre protection area, they were required to adhere to height restrictions.

“There is also the airport boundary and also just between the inner perimeter area and the airport boundary, there should be no development,” he stressed.

He noted that while some developers came to the GCAA for evaluation and permits to build in the outer perimeter, some did not, adding that, the Authority was working with the Lands Commission and the Ministry of Aviation to deal with the issue.

He said the developments by encroachers in the inner zone were unapproved and will have to be stopped immediately.