Two Sign Pact on Hydro Dams (Spread)

PATO Company of Ghana yesterday signed an agreement with Sinohydro Corporation of China in connection with the construction of four hydroelectric dams on rivers Tano, Ankobra and Pra in the Central and Western regions of Ghana.
The River Pra, which runs through both the Central and Western regions of Ghana, will accommodate two of the dams; one at Awisam in the Central Region and the other in Sekyere Hemang in the Western Region.
The other two dam sites are on the Ankobra River at Bunso and Tano River at Tanoso, both in the Western Region.
The Executive Chairman of Pato Company, Mr William Oppong Bio, and the Group Executive Vice President of Sinohydro Corporation, Mr Liu Qitao, signed the agreement.
The four projects, which are expected to generate an estimated 230 kilowatts of electric power, would be completed within three years. Pato Company is financing the projects at a cost of US$900 million while Sinohydro Corporation has been contracted to build the dams.
Present at the signing ceremony in Accra were the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu; the Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Owura Kwaku Sarfo; the Central Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur; the Western Regional Minister, Mr A. E. Amoah; the district chief executives of the districts where the dam sites are located, top officials from Sinohydro Corporation of China and officials of Pato Company were present.
In his remarks, Mr Baah-Wiredu said Ghana had about 40 of such sites that could be developed into hydro dams and called on interested investors to take advantage of them, adding that “never again should Ghanaians experience power cuts”.
The Finance Minister, who had reportedly visited the “virgin sites” of the dams on two occasions within this year in the company of others, narrated the experience they had while making the journey on foot through the bush and ended by paying tribute to Ghana’s past leaders who paved the way for the nation’s development.
He advised government officials in the two regions and especially those in the affected districts to discuss issues of land with the traditional rulers as soon as possible.
On his part, Mr Oppong Bio said President J. A. Kufuor was expected to cut the sod for work on the projects to begin in the next few weeks now that the agreement had been signed.
The two regional ministers, Nana Arthur, who spoke fluent Chinese at the ceremony; and Mr Amoah, expressed their appreciation to the government for the preparations so far made to get the dams built and promised to support at all levels to the final stage.