"Life with mining is hell" - WACAM

Accra, May 26, GNA - The Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) says "life with mining is hell" in mining communities in Ghana as these communities are deprived of their farmlands and become dependent of food rations.

A press statement Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, Executive Director of WACAM, signed, said many mining communities have lost their economic livelihood through displacement and areas that used to be important food producing areas have become areas of food deficit.

The release, which is in an apparent response to the theme of the 80th anniversary of the Ghana Chamber of Mines - Life without mining is impossible- catalogues the negative impact of surface mining on the people and the environment.

It said the Chamber ignored the realities of the destruction of basic human needs for survival such as the need for clean air, clean water and good agricultural lands that mining destroyed. WACAM said mining affected the health status of affected communities and reduced the productivity of farmers, as abandoned pits became breeding grounds of mosquitoes leading to the high incidence of malaria.

It said "surface mining is gradually killing agriculture but the negative effects of mining on the agriculture sector is completely missing in the discussions on the rising cost of food prices. "If major areas of agricultural production are gradually becoming areas of net food deficit as a result of the operations of surface mining companies, then we need to have a foresight to recognise that we are mining ourselves out of existence." WACAM noted: "Mining has a life span whilst agriculture is in perpetuity. The nation should consider the long-term consequences of promoting surface mining, which is inherently unsustainable against agriculture, which is sustainable. The signs have started showing and we ignore them at our own peril."