The Member of Parliament for Talensi, Benson Tongo Baba has called for the prompt payment of compensation and resettlement packages for his constituents who will be affected by the construction of the Pwalugu Multi-Purpose Dam.
The $993 million project was approved by Parliament with an allocation of $60 million earmarked for resettlement.
The Member of Parliament, who was contributing to the debate on the approval, warned against the undue delays in the release of compensation packages.
“The compensation as has been captured, I pray that it will not witness what has happened to other projects in the past and that prompt payment of will be made to the family so they can enjoy their resettlement,” he said.
About Pwalugu Dam Project
The President cut the sod for the commencement of the project on Friday, 29th November 2019 and stated that the dam will “avert the perennial flooding caused by the spillage of the Bagre Dam”.
The project is expected to commence in April 2020.
The entire project will be executed by a Chinese construction firm, Power China International and supervised by the Volta River Authority over a period of five years.
It will consist of three main components; a hydropower plant; a solar farm; and an irrigation scheme covering an area of some twenty-five thousand (25,000) hectares.
The project is set to be the single, largest investment ever made by any Government in the Northern sector of the country.
The irrigation component of the project will cost US$474,042,141.85.
The tax component of the project is US$69,284,727.79 and there is also a cadastral survey cost of US$800,000.00.
The electricity component of the project will consist of US$366 million, 60MW hydropower and a US$55.4 million, 50MW solar power while resettlement, survey and project management cost will amount to US$98 million.
Source: citinewsroom
