Bui Dam Is 92 Percent Complete

Work on the Bui Hydro Electric Power at Bui in the Brong Ahafo Region is 92 per cent complete. The Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority (BPA), Mr Jabesh Amissah-Arthur, who announced this when the Vice President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur visited the dam site on Tuesday, said with the percentage of work completed, the project would be on stream by the end of this month. He commended the Vice President for the visit, which he said, would encourage the workers to improve on their performance to complete the project. The Vice President was accompanied by Mr Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah, Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Mr Paul Evans Aidoo, Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister and his Deputy, Mr Justice Samuel Adjei and Mr James Agyenim-Boateng, of the office of the Vice President. He visited the resettlement camp, two saddle dams and the main generating plant. Vice President Amissah-Arthur has expressed satisfaction with the progress of on-going work at the Bui Hydro-Electric Power Project. He was optimistic that the Bui Power Authority (BPA) and Sinohydro, Chinese Construction firm on the project would be able to complete the project on schedule. Vice President Amissah-Arthur said within a few weeks BPA would generate the expected mega watts of power to the country. He said two other on-going power generation plants in other parts of the country, would also be completed by the end of the year. Mr Armah Buah, the sector minister said, so far $700 million had been spent on the project, adding that the government had also released money for the shortfall which occurred. Four transmission lines are being constructed to transmit power from the Bui generating plant to the national grid, through four GRIDCo substations in Sawla, Techiman, Kintampo and Sunyani. The Bui Hydroelectric Power Project on the Black Volta is designed for hydro power generation, the development of an irrigation scheme for agriculture and to provide an opportunity for enhanced eco-tourism and fisheries. It also includes a resettlement and community support programme. The main project is estimated at 622 million dollars. It is being funded with a concessional loan of 263.5 million dollars from the Chinese Government and a Buyer�s credit of 298.5 million dollars from the EXIM Bank in addition to government�s contribution of 60 million dollars.