Ghana: Bui Power Embarks On Major CSR Initiative

The Bui Power Authority (BPA) has supplied 39 fishing ponds to 117 people whose livelihoods were earlier affected due to construction of the Bui Hydroelectric Project.

The 117 people were in 39 groups and opted for a Fish Raising module under the Authority’s Livelihood Enhancement Project II (LEP 2) initiative for Project Affected Persons (PAPs).

This initiative forms part of efforts to restore and further improve the livelihoods of PAPs after construction of the Bui Hydroelectric Project. The Resettlement Township Part B consists of the Bui, Dokokyina and Bator-Akanyakrom communities.

“The handing-over ceremony at the Bui Resettlement Township B in the Bono Region saw 117 PAPs 3 to each pond – the ponds stocked with each Group’s preferred fish species; i.e., either 1,000 catfish fingerlings or 500 tilapia fingerlings.”

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BPA, Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, acknowledged the sacrifice of Resettlement Communities – who through a series of consultations and engagements, agreed to be resettled from their previous settlements to the pave way for what we now see and call the Bui Generating Station, which is producing electricity to the benefit of all Ghanaians.

He charged beneficiaries of the raised fishponds to grasp and run with the initiative to improve on their livelihoods which, he said, is part of government’s agenda of job creation.

Board Chairman of BPA Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh (MP, Sunyani East) said he is impressed with the livelihood enhancement modules initiated by BPA to help the PAPs, and believes they will give them sustainable livelihoods. He added that the Bui Power Authority will be doing more to help the PAPs.

For his part, Samuel Kofi Dzamesi lauded the automated mechanisation of the module’s operation, and remarked that it presents a modernised way of engaging with the age-old craft of fishing.

The Chief of Bui, Nana Kwadwo Wuo II, thanked the BPA Board of Directors for their continuous support to Bui Resettlement Township, and requested that the Authority do more to improve living conditions for the indigenes. The Authority has also constructed 30 more fishponds to cater for PAPs with a similar LEP interest at Resettlement Township A in the Savannah Region.

Modules under the LEP II for the Resettlement Communities were instituted to supplement existing professions of the beneficiaries, hence affording them the chance to make some extra income and become self -sufficient.

Aside from the Fish Raising Module, Artisans, Service Providers and Pottery have also been empowered and equipped under the LEP II to start businesses under these careers.

In addition, Event Management, Tractor Mechanisation, Fishing & Fishmongering modules have also been instituted for PAPs who expressed the desire to engage in such businesses to enhance their livelihoods.

Source: B&FT