As part of the processes towards the actual construction of the Port of Keta, an environmental and social impact assessment commences with stakeholder engagement.
Ahead of the commencement of the assessment, Dr. Alexander Adusei, the Director in charge of the Keta Port Project, has led a team of officers from Coastal and Reclamation Engineering Services Ghana Limited, the consultants for the environmental and social impact assessment, to the project site.
The consultants would be engaging stakeholders in the Volta Region for the next six months on both the positive and negative impacts of the project.
Dr. Adusei had earlier led a senior management team from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) together with the consultants to pay a courtesy call on the Dufia of Kedzi, Togbi Joachim Acolatse I, to introduce the consultant to the community.
He expressed the hope that the project was gradually moving towards the construction stage, stating that the environmental and social impact assessment was an important stage, explaining that without a completed report, they could not get a credible investor for the project
.
He said every investor needed these two reports to make the decision, adding that to ensure that too much time was not wasted, the GPHA was running the investor pool in parallel with the assessment, revealing that they currently had about 24 companies expressing interest in the project.
He added that they had pared it down to about six companies, adding that “but we’ve kept the window open for those who are still interested in applying to go ahead and apply; we will still use the same vigorous template of review for anyone who comes in.”
Mr. Mathew Baker, the Technical Manager of Coastal and Reclamation Engineering Services Ghana Limited, gave the scope of work and said stakeholder engagement was an important phase for the project.
Mr. Baker said stakeholder engagement was critical because they would go into the community to find out everyone’s views on the project, what their concerns might be, and their expectations, so that such concerns and expectations would be built into the impact assessment.
Mr. Emmanuel Gemegah, the Municipal Chief Executive for Keta, pledged the support of the people to the consultants to ensure a successful environmental and social impact assessment.
He promised to encourage the people to freely give out information about their livelihood and thoughts on the project to ensure that the right information was picked.
Credit: GNA
