124 Appiatse units to be constructed for Appiatse community

The re-development of Appiatse, the community at Prestea-Huni- Valley Municipality, which was razed down by explosion in January earlier this year, is estimated to cost GHȼ125 million.

According to Benito Owusu-Bio, a Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources and Chairman of the Appiatse Reconstruction Implementation Committee, GHȼ45 million would be required for the first phase of the construction  while the second phase would cost  GHȼ80 million.

Inspecting the progress of work at Appiatse yesterday, he said, the total cost of the project, including the roofing and renovations of building slightly affected by the explosion, would be known when it was completed.

He indicated that six contractors have commenced construction works on 124 housing units

“Where we are now is the construction stage, particularly the first phase and as you can see here, most of the contractors are working on the substructures which are made of normal blocks, others at the foundation level, some footings level and soon we will be at the flowing level with brick works to hopefully commence in about five weeks,” the Deputy Minister added

He said the compressed earth bricks which would be used for the top structure of the buildings was in line with government’s plan to build an eco-friendly, sustainable and green community which would be a model concept for other rural communities.

Mr Owusu-Bio commended partnering government agencies including the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and GETFUND for identifying the transformer site and agreeing to build the school for the community respectively.

He, however, called on the Ministry of Roads and Highways to commence work on the road networks, to clear the road corridors for the contractors to work.

Mr Castro Kaliebu, the contractor responsible for the production of bricks for the project, disclosed that a total of 4,000 bricks have so far been produced.

He noted that with machine’s producing capacity of 11,000 a day, he expressed hope that the quantity needed for the project would be produced within the given time provided the required electricity power was supplied.