Banda chiefs not happy about exclusion from Board

Banda Ahenkro (B/A), July 29, GNA - Banda Traditional Council, has expressed worry that it has no representation on the Board for the Bui Power Authority (BPA), which was inaugurated by the Minister of Energy Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei last week.

"We are not happy about this development because the Traditional Council own the greatest portion of the land for the dam project and we cannot fathom as to why we must be excluded from such an important body", Okokyeredom Kwadwo Sito, Omanhene of the Area, said at an emergency meeting that was attended by 28 out of 37 chiefs in the area, at Banda Ahenkro.

He said in 1971, the Council suffered from a similar situation when land for the Bui National Park was acquired adding that because the Council did not have any representation on the Board of the Park, only five per cent of compensation had so far been paid. Okokyeredom Sito said "Banda traditional council must be represented on the BPA Board as no one else can represent us. We surely cannot agree to this raw treatment meted to indigenes of the area as posterity will blame us for such lapse". He called on the authorities to involve the chiefs in deliberations on the Bui Dam Project. Okokyeredom Sito stressed that "The way our lands are being utilized we envisage that there will come a time when our people will not have land for farming and other economic activities. We have had the experience of the Bui National Park and we do not want a repetition of this".

He said the Council had already appealed to Vice President John Mahama during his recent visit to the site of the project and President John Evans Atta Mills when he was in the area as presidential candidate to campaign for Election 2008, to involve the chiefs in discussions on the project. Okokyeredom Sito said: "The area does not lack the requisite personnel to represent us. We have men with the expertise to be on any committee to seek the interest of the people".