The Veterinary Services Department (VSD) has warned of potential public health risks associated with the proposed construction of a 24-hour economy market on a portion of the Tarkwa Veterinary Investigation Sheep Farm at Kwabedu, near Tarkwa.
The Department says the land is used for disease investigations and contains areas where carcasses infected with anthrax were buried, raising concerns that excavation and construction activities could disturb potentially dangerous spores.
The VSD has consequently indicated its intention to pursue legal action against the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Assembly (TNMA) over what it describes as encroachment on portions of the veterinary facility.
Dr Simon Gbene, a Veterinary Public Health Specialist, said attempts to resolve the matter through engagement with the Assembly had not produced the desired outcome.
He said the proposed market could expose residents and traders to unnecessary health risks because the land was not ordinary undeveloped property but a facility used for disease surveillance and investigations.
Dr Gbene explained that anthrax-infected carcasses had previously been buried on the farm and were expected to remain undisturbed for many years.
He said the facility was also used for research, drug trials and the collection of samples for laboratory analysis.
According to him, the Tarkwa Veterinary Investigation Sheep Farm is the only facility of its kind serving Southern Ghana, including the Western, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Volta and Oti regions.
“The assembly wrote to us saying they wanted a portion, and we told them this is not a virgin land, it’s a farm, so you can’t have access to it. Apart from that, you can’t put a market in an infected area because this is disease investigation farm,” he said.
Dr Gbene said the Department referred the matter to the Attorney-General’s Department in the Western Region after its concerns were allegedly not addressed by the Assembly.
He claimed that the Assembly had sought to justify the proposed development by pointing to existing encroachment on parts of the land.
The Veterinary Public Health Specialist estimated the financial losses associated with the alleged encroachment at GH¢1.5 million and said the Department would seek legal redress to recover the amount.
He explained that previous encroachment problems had largely been brought under control after a fencing arrangement involving the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and a fuel station operator.
Dr Gbene, however, warned that excavation works for the proposed market could disturb soil containing anthrax spores and create health risks for people in the surrounding communities.
Residents of Kwabedu who spoke to the Ghana News Agency said they supported the idea of a 24-hour economy market but urged the Assembly to relocate the project to a safer site.
They warned that the Assembly could be held responsible for any disease outbreak linked to construction or commercial activity on the veterinary farm and called on the Ministry of Health to intervene.
The Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Ebenezer Cobbinah, confirmed that the Assembly had approached the Veterinary Services Department for a portion of the land for the market project.
He declined to comment further, saying the matter was currently before the Western Regional Minister, Mr Joseph Nelson.
A visit to the Tarkwa Veterinary Investigation Sheep Farm on July 19, 2026, showed that a section of the land had already been graded, heightening concerns over the proposed development and the potential health implications of further construction activity.
