CSOs are not against mineral exploration but...

Civil society organizations are not against mineral exploration but they are against the way resources are shared after exploration , the Country Director of Ibis West Africa, Mr. Charles Wontewe, has said.

He said this at a public forum organized by the Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA) and sponsored by IBIS West Africa.

The forum, which was on the theme “Achieving Sustainable Mining in Talensi and Nabdam Districts without compromising interest of key actors in the context of the Mineral Act, the Role of Key Stakeholders,” was to discuss how sustainable mining activities can be carried out in an atmosphere of peace in the Talensi and Nabdam districts.

Mr. Wontewe expressed worry about spillage of chemicals by foreign mining companies leading to the killing of fishes and pollution of drinking water and said it was against people’s human rights to be prevented from using their own water resources because of mining.

Participants blamed the District Assembly, the Mineral Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for causing mining conflicts at Gbane, a mining community in the District.

They said if the District Mining Committee had informed the community and educated them enough, the numerous conflicts associated with the community, small scale miners and the Chinese mining company, Shanxi Mining Company Limited, would not have occurred.

“The District Mining Committee failed to realize that majority of our community members are illiterate and could not read and write so they capitalized on that and connived with the Chinese Mining Company to exploit us,” Assembly Member for Gbane, Mr. Bismark Zumah , said.

The participants expressed worry about the use of dangerous chemicals by mining firms and that a research showed that the inhabitants of Nagodi, where a foreign firm operated sometime ago, were infected with strange diseases.

“We as community members cannot allow the situation at Nangodi to happen to us. The devastation of our environment by mining activities is becoming very fast and our future generation will not spare us if we do not stop this negative activities. The Mineral Commission and District Assembly have disappointed us,” they said.