Reported by, Nsor Paul mensah.
The Deputy National Director for A Rocha Ghana Mr. Daryl Bosu said they are Not Against Government agenda for developing Atewa Forest."The reckless abandon and persistence of this Government to destroy Ghana's progress and efforts to address deforestation and build resilience for communities is appalling to say the least".
He said this on Friday August 19th when addressing the press in Accra concerning the transparency regarding plans to mine Bauxite at Atewa Forest, in the easting region.
According to Mr. Daryl Bosu, he had information that, the minerals commission's mining repository, the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) has been granted a licence dated 27 July 2022 to prospect for bauxite in the Atewa Range forest reserve.
He said GIADEC and the Ghana government have ensured the utmost secrecy throughout this process. This is in complete disregard for Ghana's Minerals and mining Act 703 That requires transparency in the granting of mineral rights.
The Deputy National Director said, they believe they have done this to push through their agenda with the minimum of resistance from the local communities, civil society, and all Ghanaians concerned about the the Atewa Forest and Ghana's future generations.
The Minerals and Mining Act 703 requires the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources to write to the Chief or allodial holder and the relevant district assemblies to notify them of a pending minerals rights application. This notice must be given at least 45 days before the Minister makes the decision on the application.
It should also be published in a way that is acceptable to local communities and exhibited at the District Assembly offices. Our checks with the Assemblies of Koforidua District and Atewa District show they have not received any such notice. This is a very critical part of transparency in the process of granting mineral rights.
You will recall that the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, in a directive published by his Ministry.on 23 April 2021, suspended all reconnaissance and/or prospecting activities in Forest Reserves and, not to accept, process and/or recommend the"directed the Minerals Commission, with immediate grant, including renewal and/or extension, of reconnaissance and prospecting licenses in Forest Reserves"
The application for the prospecting license in the Atewa Range Forest Reserve was made on 11 February 2021. It is not possible that this license was granted between 11 February and 5 March 2021 when Hon. Jinapor assumed office as the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
If the statement by the CEO of the Minerals Commission is correct that Hon. Jinapor has not granted any license for prospecting in Forest Reserves since assuming office, how has this been granted?
He emphasized that On 14 May 2021, the Minerals Commission and Forestry Commission jointly published a Public Notice stating that the Minister had directed them to publish a list of applications granted or pending for reconnaissance or prospecting licenses in Forest Reserves. Their duly published list included 12 prospecting and/or reconnaissance licenses still active in Forest Reserves, and a further 68 that were pending.
There was NO pending application listed for the Atewa Range Forest Reserve by GIADEC or any other company.
However, according to the information published on the Minerals Commission website for license PL.5/55, GIADEC's application for a prospecting license in the Atewa Forest was made on 11 February 2021, meaning it was indeed pending at the time the list was published. This makes it appear like the government did not want this information made public so as to avoid any resistance.
The Minister's claims of the "highest standards of transparency" as reason for publishing this list appear completely empty.
In comments to the media published 20 September 2020 in response to the civil society legal action. against the government's plans to mine Atewa Forest, the Attorney General claimed that the government would mine a portion of the Atewa Forest and therefore licensed an area constituting 1.95% of the Atewa Forest for mining. As the Minerals Commission Mining Repository information for license PL.5/55 now demonstrates very clearly, the licensed area is far larger than 1.95 %. Instead, it covers about 50% of the Atewa Range Forest Reserve north of Kibi. This is a departure from the Attorney General's promise to Ghanaians. A case of broken promises.
"We see these developments to be extremely serious breaches of Ghanaian's trust and in some cases breaches of administrative procedures, guidelines and laws regarding mining in protected forest reserves by the Government of Ghana itself".
Mr. Daryl Bosu, Deputy National Director noted that regardless of how small the area planned for bauxite mining, Atewa must not be mined for Bauxite. The government and GIADEC must rescind their plans immediately. Ghana can have a thriving integrated aluminum industry without targeting Atewa Forest, in order to save crucial water sources for over 5 million Ghanaians. Failure to heed to this call, will be intergenerationally suicide and reckless.
The lack of transparency and the misinformation throughout this process is unacceptable. Ghana's resources including her forest are for all Ghanaians. If government is trying to keep communities and civil society quiet, it will not work.