C'TIES AT BUI DAM PROJECT SITE RESETTLED (BACK PAGE)

THE evacuation of people from three communities in the Black Volta Basin is now complete, with the resettlement of residents of Agbegikrom which clears the last hurdle for construction works to proceed on the Bui Dam project.
Residents of Agbegikrom are the last to be resettled and that has brought to three the number of villages relocated at Jama in the Bole District of the Northern Region. The first two communities to be moved to the new settlement were Berehodi and Dam Site.
In all, 50 households, comprising 180 people, were resettled for heavy construction works on the dam to begin at the project site.
As part of the resettlement package, each household was allocated a two-bedroom housing unit with a bathroom and a kitchen attached to it.
In addition, a central place of convenience (KVIP) and a borehole have been provided. Other facilities provided include a community centre and a nursery school.
Each household was also given two acres of land for farming.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Environmental Officer of the Bui Dam project, Mr Salifu Wumbilla, said the resettlement exercise had brought about a vast improvement in the lives of the people affected.
Disclosing other forms of assistance to the resettled communities, Mr Wumbilla said an amount of GH¢100, being the first 20 per cent of the inconvenience allowance, had been paid to each member of the communities, irrespective of his or her age. He added that 100 acres of land had been secured for the people at Jama.
He stated further that other forms of cash assistance for each individual member of each household would follow.
Mr Wumbilla, however, said the amount would be given to the people in three phases, adding that the first was 20 per cent, followed by 40 per cent and another 40 per cent, bringing the cash assistance to 100 per cent.
In an interview, Madam Akosua Nketiah, a 30-year-old resident of Berehodi just before the movement to Jama, was full of praise for the government for providing them with such comfort.
“I am delighted that they are moving us from here because I have seen that the project is big and we and our children cannot stay here to obstruct the progress of work,” she said.
Mr Kofi Goku, a fisherman, who is one of the resettled people, for his part, commended the government for not neglecting them at the start of the project.
The Tain District Chief Executive (DCE), Madam Farizana Bintu Ibrahim, who witnessed the exercise, assured the people of the government’s support.