A Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu-Bio, says all is set for victims displaced during the Appiate disaster to relocate from the Odumase tent camp to the temporary structures.
He said the victims will be allowed to occupy 30 out of the 32 temporary structures from May 1, 2022.
The Deputy Minister gave the assurance during a visit to see the pace of roofing and finishing works at the temporary resettlement site provided by Future Global Resources.
“We have seen that almost about thirty of the buildings have been roofed. We are looking at 32. That is our target, so we will say we are left with just two of them to be roofed. Also, materials for the windows and the doors are all here. As for the doors, all of them are intact. We have asked the carpenters and the foremen working to increase the number of their labour force so that at least we should be able to finish by the 1st May. That is our target.”
“Now what is left is the nets and also rubber carpet for the rooms… and then we are ready to go”, he said.
However, when asked about lighting for their rooms, Benito Owusu-Bio answered in the negative.
“There wouldn’t be electricity in their rooms, but lighting for the compound is very important so that at least they can see around. That can help to prevent stray animals from entering their rooms during the night“, he explained.
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Benito said they are committed to meeting the deadline set for the relocation on 1st May.
“We still have seven days, and l can assure you that we are still within our time frame, and we will be able to deliver. Our time is on the 1st May, and we will deliver. We would be back here again in three days. Even if we need to come here two times before the 1st of May to ensure that the work is being done, we will be here.”
“We as a team are going to sit with officers and the MCE as to the way forward in terms of payment and other things, but the public must be rest assured. We are happy with what we’ve seen, because six days ago it was only one roofed building, but now almost 30 buildings have been roofed and that is quite an improvement and very impressive”, he added.
While highlighting the relocation arrangement, the Deputy Lands and Natural Resources Minister emphasised that all would be catered to.
“Everybody in the camp will be moved here and the rooms are more than enough. We have given instructions that they should keep on roofing more. The more rooms we get, the better. Thirty-two was our count, and it is the total that will give us enough rooms to meet their needs. Once we still have more demands, we are going to continue creating more places for them”, he noted.
The Deputy Lands and Natural Resources Minister also engaged with about 120 residents of Appiate Newsite whose houses were partly affected by the explosives disaster in January 2022.
