THE Land Valuation Board (LVB) has begun the registration of land and property owners for the resettlement of the last batch of communities under the Bui Dam Project.
Those being covered in the exercise are from Dokakyina, Bui Village, Akanyakrom-Bator and Bui National Camp.
The Environmental Officer of the Bui Power Authority (BPA), Mr Wumbilla Salifu, told the Daily Graphic that the exercise began with the sensitisation of all land and property owners whose areas would be affected by the project.
He said the communities were being sensitised to the mandate of the LVB and its relation to the payment of compensation.
Mr Salifu said the BPA was co-operating with the LVB team to carry out the exercise in all the four communities earmarked for resettlement.
He said besides identifying land and other fixed property owners in the affected areas, records of farm sizes and relevant details should be done with the complete involvement of property owners.
That, he said, would enable the exercise to avoid complications during the payment of compensations.
According to Mr Salifu, the BPA would also keep the details of beneficiaries to ensure easy identification.
He, therefore, appealed to all property owners in the affected areas to co-operate with the team when work began in their respective communities.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of the BPA, Mr Jabesh Ammissah-Arthur, had interacted with the communities to discuss various issues including the activities of the LVB and other matters relating to the payment of compensation and resettlement.
The development of the Bui Dam will involve the permanent inundation of over 440km2 of land, including parts of the Bui National Park, at its full supply level.
Although Dokakyina, a Ghanaian community on the Ghana/Cote d’Ivoire border, would not be inundated, it had been earmarked for relocation because the community would be surrounded on three sides by the reservoir.
Most parts of the Dokakyina land which is used for farming and other purposes will be submerged under the project.
In a related development, the construction of 177 houses and other facilities scheduled to commence as soon as clearing for the emerging communities, to be known as New Bui, New Bator-Akanyakrom, New Dokakyina and New National Camp, has begun.
In all, 999 people are due for resettlement in the four communities.
The 400 megawatts (MW) Bui hydropower project, which was started in 2008, is scheduled for completion in 2013.
The first unit of the project, expected to generate 133 MW will be inaugurated in 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment