The acting Estate Development Manager of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Mr Emmanuel Tetteh Martey, has told the Judgement Debt Commission that the VRA resettled 80 families following the acquisition of a stretch of inundated land close to the Volta Lake for the construction of the Akosombo Dam.
Again, he said the VRA paid compensation for the crops and buildings on the land which was acquired by Executive Instrument 98 of 1974.
Mr Martey told the commission that the VRA did not pay any land compensation to any family or stool for the acquisition of the inundated land known as the lake bed.
He said there were still some residual issues with regard to the resettlement as some families claimed that they had not been properly resettled.
Mr Martey said the VRA did not have any pending claim for land compensation from any stool or family in respect of the inundated land.
However, he said, the VRA occasionally received some petitions from some families, and added that the VRA redirected the petitions to the relevant ministries.
Mr Martey indicated that in the course of creating the Akosombo Dam, flooding of the 280 feet contour around the Volta Lake started in 1963, and said by 1965, the lake bed had been created.
Lands Commission
The National Chairman of the Lands Commission, Alhaji Bakari Sadik Nyari, also appeared before the commission in respect of the Lake bed compensation.
He said the Lands Commission had paid claims to some families for the conflict-free areas of the lake bed.
He said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning released the money to the Land Valuation Division of the Lands Commission to effect the payment.
Explaining the processes, Alhaji Nyari said the Survey Department of the Lands Commission had conducted a survey of the area and had come out with a plan called the Y-plan, which gave the extent of the flooded area.
He said the Lands Commission analysed the documents from the claimants and located the site plans on the Y-plan before the payments were made to guard against double payments.
“Most of the claims have been sporadic, which are checked against the Y-plan. It is noted in the Y-plan to ensure that there are no multiple payments,” he said.
CarMichael compensation
The Chief Valuer of the Land Valuation Division of the Lands Commission, Mr Kwesi Bentsi-Enchill, also answered questions in respect of the $2.4 million compensation to the CarMichael family for the confiscation of the family’s land.
He told the commission that CarMichael, whose identity was not known by the commission, was the managing director of a company that had leased about 1,500 acres from the 24,000 acres of the land that the government had acquired for the Aveyime Livestock project.
Controller
The Deputy Controller and Accountant General incharge of Treasuries, Mr Andrews Kingsley Kufe, appeared before the commission in relation to cases pending against the commission.
Source: Graphic Online