General News of Thursday, 19 December 2013

Source: XYZ

Prez Mahama commissions Bui dam

President John Mahama has inaugurated the final phase of the Bui Hydroelectric Power Project at Bui in the Brong-Ahafo Region.

The first unit of the Project which provided about 133 megawatts of power was inaugurated in May to augment energy supply in the country.

CEO of the Bui Power Authority, Jabesh Amissah-Arthur, said the Bui City project, the luxury aspect of the just-completed 400 megawatts dam, can be realized if private investors come onboard.

The city is expected to have resorts, hotels, water, sports facilities and diverse other recreational centres for both domestic and international tourists.

At the inauguration ceremony of the dam this morning, Mr. Amissah-Arthur said the Bui City dream is still alive.

He added that all the villagers, except a few, who were displaced by the project, have successfully been resettled and compensated.

The three-turbine Dam is nestled in a gorge separating the Brong Ahafo region from the Northern region.

It was built by Chinese contractor Sino-hydro.

It was started in 2008 in the dying embers of the Kufuor administration.

Mr Kufuor, together with some of the Energy Ministers who served in his government, joined President Mahama at the inauguration event Thursday.