Following the January 20, 2022 explosion that wiped out the Appiatse Community and killed 16 persons with others injured, the government laid down time-tested processes for dealing with this matter. One aspect of the gamut measures rolled out was how to reconstruct the community into a model Ghanaian rural Community, upon this, the Minister took the opportunity to tour the site to see the progress of work so far. He was satisfied with 30% work done for the first face of the project and also called on the public to continue to contribute to the Appiate fund, the Minister Hon. Samuel Abu Jinapor re-emphasized the government’s commitment to judiciously utilize the funds to complete the first 124 model households
on time.
“And if we can carry this through really, this will become historic. We are going to have the community first of all and the displaced indigenes will be resettled and resettled properly in settlements that are far advanced, modern, and climatically friendly. And hopefully, it will become a model rural community for our people here in Appiaste. So I’m very happy and want to use this opportunity to thank my Deputy Minister honorable Benito Owusu-Bio who has been leading the Appiatse reconstruction implementation team, Former MP for Prestea Huni-valley Constituency, and Chairperson for Minerals Commission Hon. Barbara Oteng Gyasi for her numerous contribution to the progress of work, the fundraising team led by Madam Joyce Aryee, and all the citizens, residents, individuals, and
organizations in our country who have contributed generously to the fund”.
“You can all attest to the fact that the fund is being put to judicious use, and we are determined to get value out of the funds which have been given out for this reconstruction and I will use this opportunity to call on Ghanaians to continue to contribute to the fund because as you can see this is phase one of the development. Indeed, people can take up some of the projects like school blocks, nurseries, and CHPS compounds and construct them by themselves. So all in all, I should say I’m impressed”, the minister indicated. The Minister handed over some food items and cash of Ghc15,000 to the Appiate Community as their Christmas token. His Deputy Minister, Benito Owusu-Bio on his part said though all is well with phase one of the project,
the government is yet to raise funds for the second phase. “We have enough funds for the first phase, but we don’t have enough for the second phase. That is why we are requesting more donations towards the fund,“ he noted.
Walter Semordzi from ASEL, consultants for the project, promised to hand over the completed first phase-one by June 5th.
“We have 106 different housing types going on out of 124. At the moment, we are above 30 percent completion, and we expect that by June 5th we should complete the entire project and handover,“ he said. Later addressing the affected residents of Appiatse at the resettlement site, Samuel Abu Jinapor assured the people of quality work and fair distribution of the houses.
Speaking on behalf of the Appiatse community during the Minister’s interaction with the people at the resettlement site, the Divisional Chief of Bepoh, Nana Atta Kojo Beremebi Il, called on the Minister to ensure the release of funds into the Appiatse Disaster Relief Fund for the care of the affected persons and thank the government for continues efforts to help ameliorate the current status of the community. He was accompanied by his Deputy Minister, Benito Owusu Bio who is in charge of the reconstruction,
the Minerals Commission’s Board Chairperson, Barbara Oteng Gyasi, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) Isaac Dasmani Ph.D. and people from various media houses.