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Owners of 166 farms, whose crops were cut down during boundary demarcation and topographic survey in the Domunli enclave in the Jomoro District, would soon be smiling all the way to the bank, as the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas), this week starts paying them compensation for their economic crops felled.
The payment exercise, which is scheduled to take off on Thursday, 5th July, 2012 would be at the Assembly Hall of the Jomoro District Assembly at Half-Assini. Beneficiaries of the compensation would receive payment orders drawn on the Half-Assini branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank.
Confirming the scheduled payment to The Business Analyst, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Gas, Dr. George Sipa-Adjah Yankey said the scheduled payment is for economic crops felled during land demarcation and survey works, started by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and continued by Ghana Gas.
Dr. Yankey explained that when Ghana Gas starts implementing the Gas Tank Farm project, which the land would now be used for, affected farmers, would be fully compensated.
Crops affected in the demarcation and survey exercise were coconut, cassava, oil palm and mango.
The Lands Valuation Division (LVD) of the Lands Commission carried out the crop enumeration and evaluation exercise.
The Business Analyst gathered that a total of about GH¢60, 000.00 is expected to be paid to the affected crop owners, who have completed LVD Standard form F. requiring name, passport photograph, geographical location and technical description of affected properly.
LVD had submitted its report to Ghana gas on 8th May, 2012 and the farmers have already signed, consenting to the compensation values.
The Ghana Gas, CEO told The Business Analyst that the national gas company is going to pay the affected farmers by international standards, to ensure they do not lose the value of their money.
The Domunli enclave was originally earmarked to host a gas processing plant for converting natural gas from the nearby Jubilee Field to dry gas for power generation, fertilizer and a petro-chemical industry among others
The site plan for the project was approved by the Western Regional Site Advisory Committee on January 1 8th 2011, after site boundary demarcation was conducted by Rudan Engineering Limited, a Ghanaian licensed survey company.
Ghana Gas, however, plans to locate a liquefied natural gas (LPG) Tank farm on the plot, after further studies cited a location at Atuabo in the Ellembelle District as the preferred choice for siting the gas processing plant, considering, among other things, limited time required for the project to become operational.
Meanwhile, site preparation works at the Atuabo site, where the gas processing plant is to be located is ongoing and sources indicate that first batch of gas pipelines are expected in the thirst week of the month.
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