Posterity Would Judge Us On Bui Dam

Space FM,Bui, Aug. 27- President J.A. Kufour has said posterity would judge the present Ghanaian generation not only by the success in constructing the Bui Dam, but also by how responsibly the present generation use the God-givern resource to the enhancement of the country's economic and social well-being.

He therefore challenged Ghanaians to operate and maintain the dam so that when the next generation comes to find it, they would be proud of their forefathers.

President Kufour was speaking at the sod cutting ceremony to commence work on the 622 million dollar Bui Hydro Electric Dam Project at Bui in the Tain District of the Brong-Ahafo Region. The Dam, which has been on the drawing board for decades, would add 400 megawatts to the national electricity generation mix on completion.The construction phase is also projected to give direct employment to 2,900 Ghanaians.

The president said his government has been committed not only to leaving a lasting impression on the minds of the nation in terms of good governance, but also in the very important area of ensuring that the fundamental need of adequate and reliable energy suply is secured as an anchor to the economic development and the lives of the people.

Apart from hydropower generation, the project has irrigation, fisheries and tourism components and the construction of a nucleus of a metropolis to be called Bui City that is expected to provide impetus to the economic and social transformation of the area.

The president said government would ensure that compensatory plans for resettlement of about 2,000 people, who would be affected by the Project, would draw extensively on experiences from earlier re-settlement schemes undertaken during the construction of the Akosombo and Kpong Hydro-Electric Projects.

He added that the project, programmed for completion in early 2012, is part of the overall strategy to triple the country's energy supply capacity from the current 2,000 megawatts to 6,000 megawatts by 2015.He also spoke of plans to build small dams on the Ankobra, Pra, Tano and the White Volta.

He called on the nation's engineers, technicians and managers as well as both skilled and unskilled labour to take full advantage of it to help to promote the necessary technology transfer that would enable the country to execute similar projects on its own in the future.

Sino-Hydro, Chinese Company, reputed for the construction of the world's biggest hydropower dam, is constructing the project.