The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has disclosed that the government of Ghana is not responsible for the compensation of victims of the Appiatse explosion.
According to the Ministry, the main role of the government is to provide emergency reliefs to the victims.
The Ministry called on Ghanaians to continually donate to the Fund to help raise enough funds to complete the reconstruction and support the community.
It also indicated that victims of the Appiatse disaster are not restrained from taking legal action to demand compensation.
The Ministry’s comments follow former President, John Mahama’s visit to the area on Tuesday where he appealed to the government to work towards compensating the victims.
President Mahama handed over a quantity of food and non-food items to Mr Robert Wisdom Cudjoe, the Member of Parliament for Prestea Huni Valley, Mr Isaac Dasmani, the Municipal Chief Executive, and the Appiatse Disaster Relief Committee in response to complaints about the reduction in voluntary relief support to the people.
“I also presented them with an amount of money to support the further treatment of some of the injured victims,” the statement quoted Mr Mahama as saying.
It reiterated the concerns of the affected community about compensation and urged the Government to act proactively to ensure that the people were supported to bring their lives back on tract.
“The people have appreciated the response and support from government after the disaster but their continued livelihoods are also important,” it said.
The explosion killed 14 people and left several others injured.
Pressure is mounting on the government to fast-track the process of reconstructing the town after scores of residents were displaced by the incident.
Following the explosion, the government set up a support fund aimed at providing relief items to affected persons and the reconstruction of the entire community.
The Appiatse Support Fund has received over GH¢35 million in donations so far.
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