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The Government is committed to rebuilding the tragedy-hit Appiatse community and ensuring that the people have decent accommodation, Mr Francis Asenso-Boakye, Minister for Works and Housing, has reiterated.

He said the establishment of the Appiatse support fund for the re-construction of the community was a clear indication of the Government’s commitment.

Mr Asenso-Boakye said this when a government delegation, including Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources and Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, Western Regional Minister, interacted with the chiefs and people of Appiatse.

The rest were officials from the Department of Rural Housing, State Housing Company Limited, Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), Minerals Commission and the Ghana Chamber of Mines.

The visit is a follow-up to the one by the Vice President and other Government officials when the incident occurred and it was to further assess the situation on the ground for the reconstruction of the Appiatse community.

The visit, Mr Asenso-Boakye explained, was necessary to help the relevant government agencies to develop the layout, planning scheme as well as the appropriate technology that was best fit for housing development in the area.

In that regard, he said, the Works and Housing Ministry would supervise the coordination and mobilization of all such state institutions to come out with a good layout plan towards the construction and re-building of the community.

“What we have witnessed here is more devastating than what we saw on TV and that has reinforced the commitment, especially from the Ministry of Works and Housing, to reconstruct this town,” he stated.

“Government will take the necessary steps to reconstruct the Appiatse community. Again, Government is extremely committed to unleashing the necessary emergency responses to this disaster,” Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Lands and Natural Resources Minister added.

Mr Jinapor said the Government had put in place necessary emergency and relief efforts since the incident happened while investigations were ongoing to unravel the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident.

The investigations, he said, would be fair comprehensive and anchored on integrity and called on Ghanaians to remain calm and patiently wait for the outcome of the investigations.

He said to ensure judicious management of the funds, a committee had been set up to manage the fund and said there would be regular engagement with the chiefs and local authorities for the use of the funds.

For his part, Nana Atta Kwadwo Bremebi II, Divisional Chief of Beppoh, thanked the Government for the swift response to their plight and indicated that the community had created bank accounts to receive all funds.