The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, responsible for Lands and Forestry and Chairman of the Appiatse Reconstruction Implementation Team, Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio has assured Ghanaians and the people of Appiatse that the first phase of the Reconstruction of the Appiatse township, will be completed by September 2023.
The Deputy Minister explained that the this revision of deadline is due to the time spent on renovating the temporary structures aquired from FGR to provide safe shelter for the people of Appiatse.
Hon. Benito stated this in an interview with UTV on Friday, 20th January, 2023, in line with the one year Commemoration of Appiatse explosion which occurred on 20th January, 2022.
The Deputy Minister in his submission indicated that in commemoration of the 1 year anniversary, the local committee at Appiaste have put in place measures to observe the day.
He made mention of a 5mins of silence observation done at exactly 11:45am in the whole community to pay homage to the dead as the sudden event occurred at that time.
He added that on Sunday, there would be a 1 year anniversary memorial service at Appiatse to pray for the dead and those still recuperating from various degrees of injuries.
The Deputy Lands Minister also announced that there is going to be a forum on safety to sensitize the public on the proper handling of mining explosives to help ensure that this tragedy does not repeat itself in the country.
Concerning the Mining company involved in the accident, he noted that they are still collaborating in the payment of the 5million dollars fine government tasked them to pay and this is being done in installment through the Minerals Commission and is hopeful that before the whole construction comes to an end, they would have finished paying the fine.
He called on all and sundry to contribute more to Appiatse Support Fund to aid the Reconstruction Implementation Team complete thier week within the stipulated time.
He also urged Ghanaians to be rest assured that the monies being collected for the Rebuilding will be used judiciously and for the right purpose.
The Chairman of the Appiatse Reconstruction Implementation Team admonished that as much as possible, Ghanaians should be careful on the road going foward, he advised that “when something happens on the road we should be quick call the necessary authorities to deal with the situation rather than move close to go and watch. Let us stay safe on our roads”.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com/Kwabena Nyarko Abronoma
