Public Agenda (Accra)
Selorm Amevor
19 September 2008
Over 6000 signatures mobilized from more than 50 countries across the world are urging the Government of Ghana to resist any attraction to grant license to any mining company to undertake mining in the controversial Ajenua Bepo Forest or any other forest in the country.
The signatories drawn from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Spain, Hungary, Sweden, Italy, Belgium ,New Zealand ,Kenya, Austria, Burkina Faso, Schweiz, Kyrgyzstan ,Israel, Portugal, Japan etc are of the view that mining in the forest reserve would impact negatively on communities and wildlife.
The signature mobilisation was initiated by WACAM, a grassroot environmental NGO and supported by Ute Hausmann FIAN - Germany and Payal Sampat EARTHWORKS of the USA.
The petition, dated September 8, 2008 was specifically addressed to the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which on paper is supposed to grant licenses to mining companies, but is mostly overruled by political power. The Minister of Lands, Forestry & Mining, Esther Obeng Dappah was also copied.
"We urge the Environmental Protection Agency to protect Ghana's unique forests and natural resources and communities by denying permits for mining in forest reserves", the petitioners said.
"The forest reserve provides habitat to threatened species of birds, plants, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. The mine would also risk contamination of water and the environment from cyanide, heavy metals and acid drainage from 15 million tones of mine wastes," they stressed.
The signatories reminded government that permitting mining in the Ajenua Bepo Forest would displace over a thousand people from their homes and at least 8,000 people would lose their land.
"The available information on the probable impacts of the mine indicate that the mine's impacts on biodiversity, forest cover, water quality, and communities would be extremely serious. Over a quarter of the forest in the Reserve would be destroyed, as would habitat for many Endangered and Vulnerable species, and wastes and toxic chemicals would threaten the water supply. Thousands of people and important cultural sites would be displaced. Given these environmental and social impacts, we urge you to reject the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and the Akyem mine permit", the signatories said.
It would be recalled that the issue of mining in the Ajenua Bepo Forest became controversial when it was alleged that the Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, Ms. Esther Obeng Dapaah announced that the government was going to grant a mining lease to a company to mine in the forest.
This announcement infuriated some concerned farmers in the Akyem area who issued a statement and urged the government to resist any attempt to grant any mining company the license to operate in the forest.
Just last week, communities living in and around the mining concessions AngloGold Ashanti in Obuasi cried foul when the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Science and Technology endorsed the environmental stewardship of the company.
A petition signed by 44 community members in the Obuasi area demanded the Committee to retract the statement it made about the environmental situation in Obuasi.
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