ASSESSMENT OF RESIDENTIAL SATISFACTION IN THE RESETTLEMENT TOWNS OF THE KETA BASIN IN GHANA (Published)
The Keta Sea Defence Restoration Resettlement Project was a response to the constant sea erosion along the Keta basin which had endangered about 500,000 people over the years. Started in 1999 the scheme aimed at resettling about a 1,200 households with the first resettlement completed in 2004.Ten years later this qualitative exploratory study employs the interpretive philosophy to investigate and make inquiry into the suitability of the location of the Keta Sea Defence Resettlement Project, in general, and the housing units, in particular, as well as the impact of inhabitants’ participation and length of stay on residential satisfaction. The multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to solicit and gather information from three resettlement towns through a semi-structured questionnaire. The 5-point Likert scale and the spearman’s rank correlation test were used to establish the satisfaction levels as well as their relationship between their neighbourhoods and beneficiary participation. The study revealed that, irrespective of the fact that, the residents were generally satisfied with utility and infrastructural developments; as well as strongly affirming the perception of the new housing units as being a general improvement on their original homes, with a 100 percent endorsement of the introduction of water closets as appropriate, they were still unsatisfied with the number and size of the sleeping rooms and the size of land given. Additionally, the study also revealed a positive correlation between lengths of stay and residential satisfaction of the physical compensation received, utility and infrastructural provisions, as well as livelihood restoration; the reverse, however, is true for security. This result is understandable, since longer years of stay are associated with population growth which is usually riddled with security difficulties and challenges.It thus recommends that, beneficiary participation is essential but more potent with appropriate technical supervision and vice versa through, empowerment, building beneficiary capacity amongst others.
Keywords: Cost sharing., Livelihood restoration, Resettlement scheme