Landing site for Bui Communities
Consequently, a sod cutting ceremony has been held at the area for the landing site which is on the right side of the road of Banda Ahenkro-Bui-Bongase and Bongase-Bui-Banda Ahenkro the district capital which has been inundated or covered by water after the construction of the dam.
Speaking at the sod cutting ceremony last Monday, Mr Jabesh Amissah-Arthur, the Chief Executive Director (CEO) of BPA, said the construction of landing the site by the BPA was to enhance and regulate fishing in the area as well as provide an alternative source of livelihood for the people.
He said the location where the sod cutting ceremony took place would be covered by water after the construction of the reservoir and, therefore, there was the need to regulate and monitor fishing activities in the area hence the construction of the landing site.
Mr Amissah-Arthur said if fishing activities in the area were controlled and managed they would serve generations yet to come since the fishing stock in the area would not be depleted. It would also promote good fishing and aqua-culture practices.
He appealed to all stakeholders to co-operate to ensure the success of the project, adding that after its completion the BPA and the Game and Wildlife Division would managed it. He said this was also part of bigger things to come to lift the standard of living of the people.
Later in an interaction with newsmen, Mr Amissah-Arthur said the plans to establish a Bui city, university and airport had not been shelved since they were still on the drawing board but the focus now was to complete the Bui dam, which was expected to produce its first batch of power in two months.
Mr Alex Bonsu, the Banda District Chief Executive (DCE), for his part, thanked the BPA for the project which would go a long way to promote fishing and increase the incomes of families.
He noted that the Bui dam project was started by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) under former President John Agyekum Kufuor and was continued by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government led by the late, President John Evans Atta Mills for the benefit of Ghanaians.
Mr Bonsu appealed to the people of the area and Ghanaians to unite and rally behind the government once the elections were over for the development of the area and Ghana as a whole.
Nana Ha-Yaw Bosom, Adontenhene of the Banda Traditional Area, who spoke on behalf of the Bandahene, Osabirima Okogyedom Kwadwo Sito I, thanked the BPA and pledged their co-operation for the successful completion of the project.
Earlier, a visit by this reporter to Akanyikrom, where fishing activities were going on, the fishermen appealed for outboard motors and pre-mix fuel to help them in their fishing expedition, since they had to travel to Buipe in the Northern Region to buy pre-mix fuel with the attendant difficulties they encountered with the police on their return journey.
They also appealed for a market at the yet to be constructed landing site where they would be relocated and a skills empowerment training centre for the Senior High School (SHS) graduates in the area who could not fish properly to acquire alternative sources of livelihood.
The fishermen said the construction of the dam had made fishing difficult since the volume of water has increased as compared to the time they were fishing on the Black Volta and expressed the hope that the new landing site would ease fishing.They mentioned some of the fish stock in the area as Tilapia, Blolovi, Abobo and Akwa.
Story by Samuel Duodu
