Blue River alluvial concession cover a total area of 40.4km2

0
Wpid Public Hearing
Blue River Alluvial Concession Cover A Total Area Of 40.4km2

public hearing

Some of the residents at the public hearing. INSET: Bright Affum

Residents of satellite communities in Gwira Ashiem in the Nzema East municipality of the Western Region have urged West Star and Blue River mining companies, which would be operating in the area, to make their compensation policy clear to the people before executing their mining project.

The two mining companies have sent a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its endorsement to execute alluvial gold mining and processing project in the area.

The residents, most of whom are cocoa farmers, insisted that the mining companies should contact the individual farmers whose crops would be destroyed as a result of the mining activities and let them know how much they would pay as compensation.

The residents noted with concern that some mining companies in the region had allegedly reneged on their promise to address all the social concerns raised by the various communities.

They made the call at a public hearing on the proposed Alluvial Gold Mining and Processing Project, organized for the communities by the EPA at Gwira Ashiem in the Nzema East municipality.

The communities included Ampansie, Chirisie, Elemina, Moaziah, Subriso, Banso, Numera and Boduazele.

The residents enumerated a number of problems such as unemployment, poor road network, lack of communication network and lack of potable drinking water, appealing to the mining companies to come to their aid.

Responding to the concerns raised, Simon Enison, managing director of the two mining companies assured that the mining companies would abide by the principles of sustainable environmental and social responsibility in the communities and compensate farmers affected by their operations.

He explained to the people that there was a legal process as to how compensations were paid to farmers whose crops were destroyed for mining activities, and promised that the companies would abide by that.

Addressing the chief, elders and people at the forum, Bright Affum, a lecturer at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) and a consultant to the mining companies, explained that the hearing was to solicit social concerns and other implications of the project in accordance with Ghana Environmental Impact Assessment procedure.

He revealed that the EPA had received a draft EIS report by the two companies on the proposed  project, as required under Act 490, Section 12 (1) and Regulation 17 of the Environmental Assessment Regulations 1999 (LI 1652).

He mentioned that West Star Mining Company Limited and Blue River Mining Company Limited were two companies under the same ownership and were registered in 1984 and 1985 respectively with the efforts of two Ghanaians and a Dutch.

He added that the companies acquired mineral licenses with an objective to prospect for and to mine gold starting with the alluvial deposits of the concessions which lie mainly within the Gwira Traditional Area.

Mr. Affum pointed out that the two companies own 90 percent share in the project while the government of Ghana holds a statutory freehold of 10 percent.

Explaining the size of the concessions, Mr. Affum noted that West Star Mining lease concessions covered an area of 50km2 but the mining activities would cover approximately 16sqkm.

?Blue River concessions cover a total area of 40.4km2 but the mining activities will cover 9sqkm,? he noted.

 From Emmanuel Opoku, Ashiem

Send your news stories to [email protected] Follow News Ghana on Google News

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here