body-container-line-1
02.06.2011 Regional News

Ultimatum To Six Bui Households To Relocate

02.06.2011 LISTEN
By Samuel Duodu - Daily Graphic

Six households at Dokokyina which have refused to be resettled under the Bui Hydroelectric Project Resettlement Plan have been given up to June 8, 2011 to relocate or risk being forcibly ejected.

The Brong Ahafo Regional Security Council (REGSEC), which issued the ultimatum at a press conference in Sunyani, said the decision followed the refusal of the six households, led by the Krontihene, Nana Kwadwo Kumah Domaka, to relocate to the resettlement camp, in spite of several appeals by the Bui Power Authority (BPA).

This is to make way for the impoundment of the Black Volta, scheduled to commence by the first week of June, to create a lake for the Bui Hydro Power Project which is to redirect the filling of the dam and this may have serious implications on the remaining six households at their present location.

Addressing a press conference, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, said the REGSEC had taken the stand to appeal to the people of those households to relocate to the resettlement camp for their safety.

He said 30 households, including the chief of the village, Nana Kofi Asa, had left the area for the new resettlement site but the remaining six households, led by Nana Domaka, were reluctant to move.

He said in May 2011, the REGSEC and the Tain District Chief Executive, under whose jurisdiction the Bui Dam is being constructed, met Nana Domaka to explain in detail the potential adverse effects on the settlers when the dam rose to full height.

In his response, Nana Domaka indicated to the REGSEC that he and his subjects would use a route through Cote d’Ivoire and would not be bothered by the cut-off or inaccessibility to Ghana.

'Considering the enormous hardships likely to be visited upon them, the REGSEC is calling on Nana Domaka and the six households to relocate to the Bui resettlement camp where standard accommodation has been provided for them,' Mr Nyamekye-Marfo stated.

'We wish to state that the relocation of those six families is in their own interest and that they should follow the footsteps of the other communities who have moved and are enjoying the comfort of their new settlements,' he added.

Mr Nyamekye-Marfo said the development of the Bui Hydroelectric Project would involve the inundation of a 444 kilometre-square of land at the full supply level of the reservoir, including parts of the Bui National Park.

body-container-line