The Deputy Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in the Prestea Huni Valley Municipality, Louis Afful says progress is being made in restoring normalcy of life at Appiate in the Western Region following the recent explosion in the area.
According to him, various arrangements have been made to ensure that the basic needs of the affected residents are met.
Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Afful said so far 746 people excluding some adult males have been relocated from the St. Michael Catholic Church to a site, Bogoso Gold Limited (BGL) where tents have been provided for the displaced residents.
“We moved 746 people from the Bogoso Catholic parish hall to the place. We’ve tried to share the food items with them, and we started giving them the items to cook on their own,” he said.
Mr. Afful said NADMO still requires more tents to ensure that the victims are adequately accommodated at the site.
On the destroyed community, he said, the land has been cleared, and they are waiting on State authorities to provide the resources to rebuild the community.
“The place has been demolished and cleared. The land is clear, and it is now left with authorities to come and start the work. We are still receiving donations and even recently a mining company donated 1,000 bags of cement, so any moment from now the project will start and everything will be okay.”
For those who are still traumatized, he said, “it will take a little time for them to get their normal lives back, but there are some doctors from Accra who have been here since last week seeing the people every day and we are making sure everybody responds. Generally, things are moving on gradually”.
He said the reconstruction of the destroyed road is almost complete and they are hopeful that by the end of December, some normalcy will return to the Appiate.
