Aburi,(E/R), May 17, GNA- The Ghana Highway Authority has paid the full compensation to the wood carvers at Aburi whose shops were affected during the construction of the Accra-Mamfe Highway in 2004. The 130 beneficiaries received compensation ranged from Gh500 cedis to Gh 4,000 cedis per beneficiary depending on the size and location of the existing shops for the cavers.

The Chairman of the Believers Co-Operative Carvers Society at Aburi, Mr. Eric Danquah who disclosed this at a press conference said the payment of the compensation had revived the business since members of the association had put up new structures to facilitate their business. He said; "We would want to express our sincere thanks to the media who brought our plight to public domain early this year that prompted the GHA to pay the monies to us". According to Mr Danquah the payment has enabled the hitherto collapsing business of the carvers who had been rendered unemployed due to the relocation, to bounce back to their formal status and expressed the hope that members would utilize the money received well. He however appealed to the government to complete the proposed craft village which was started in 2004 as part of measures of relocating them but have been abandoned to boost their trade. The craft village which is expected to be a one-stop shop that would attract tourist consists of a restaurant, caf=E9 and internet services, supermarket and a big exhibition centre for the carvers to sell their wares and other facilities.

During the construction of the Accra-Mamfe Highway, the famous wood carvers along the Accra-Aburi road were relocated to the interior of the town which created problems for them. As a result of that relocation and the delay in the payment of the compensation to enable them construct temporary structures for their businesses whiles the craft village was being constructed most of them were thrown out of business.