Apeatse reconstruction: Government must come into agreement with citizens to avert double spending – Martin Kpebu
Private Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has asked the government to come into an agreement with the people of Apeatse to reimburse funds used for the reconstruction of the town when they receive any insurance entitlements.
“There’s nothing wrong with government spending now, but we don’t spend in areas that these victims are likely to get compensation from these companies or if we spend, there should be agreements that would spell out clearly that ‘it’s like we’re giving an advance so when you recover we will take the money back, and in other words, we can look at subjugation,” he said.
Speaking on the Super Morning Show on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, he explained that this is to avert any instance of overspending and giving the people more than they deserve, especially in the current state where the country is experiencing economic challenges.
“Let’s make this point clear that we can’t use public funds to build houses for the citizens and not recover if these citizens are going to get compensation. You know we don’t have money and I don’t know how government can rebuild without the money,” he said.
“It’s clear that if you’re building a 3 bedroom house for someone and the person would get compensation subsequently, I think it’s logical that you sign an agreement with him that because your compensation will come in two years, and it will cost you too much hardship I’ll build it for you now. I don’t know how we can build over 200 houses and then say we would not recover. That’s a no-no,” he said.
This forms part of conversations on the reconstruction of Apeatse, the town which was raised down by fire from a vehicle carrying explosives on Thursday, January 20, 2022.
Government has made its intention of reconstructing the town known. It has also set up a committee to look into circumstances surrounding the incident as well as a fund to mobilise resources to support the victims.
Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, indicated on the Super Morning Show that government has no intention of asking the people to reimburse funds they may receive from insurance, but Mr. Kpebu was of a different opinion.
He stated that “if government spends too much on them and they are able to recover from the insurance or the companies that are involved directly, it means they will be getting far more than they actually owned before the incident,” he added.
“So it needs a bit of tethering here and there to ensure that there is no double spending. Government at all costs has to give some emergency approach, but where do we stop? I pray that we all keep our eyes on the ball, especially about how we will recover if the State Housing Company goes to build the houses,” he added.
Source: Ghana News
