The government’s commitment to rebuild Appiatse, a mining community in the Prestea Huni Valley Municipality of the Western Region which was razed down by an explosion, is on course.
Currently, works on the first phase of the community’s reconstruction have reached an advanced stage, as the project would soon be handed to the residents.
It would be recalled that Appiatse was razed down on Thursday, January 20, 2022, when a truck carrying explosives to a mining site exploded in the community.
About 13 people were reported to have died from the incident, with several others sustaining different degrees of injuries.
The government promised to ensure the reconstruction of about 124 housing units that were destroyed in the community.
This came to light when the chairman of the Appiatse Reconstruction Committee, Benito Owusu-Bio, who is also a Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, inspected progress of work recently.
He suggested to the Architectural and Engineering Services Limited (AESL), Consultants of the Appiatse project and the contractors on site to now focus more on external works.
He said, considering the level of progress on the buildings, more attention should be turned to external works such as road construction, drains, lawns and rain outlets as the Committee prepares to formally handover the first phase of the project to the people.
Mr. Owusu-Bio assured that the second and third phases of construction involving the renovation of the peripherals will not be neglected.
A member of the Ghana Institute of Architects and a member of the Committee, Charles Blankson-Hermans praised the contractors for the speedy completion of most of the works.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Prestea Huni-Valley, Isaac Dasmani, promised that when all the projects are completed, the assembly would assist in the smooth and peaceful distribution of the housing units.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi