Obuasi: LEAPAB under threat from illegal mining activities

The government’s LEAPAB project, under the 1D1F, in the Obuasi municipality, is facing an imminent collapse following the invasion of its oil palm plantation by alleged illegal miners.

According to graphic.com.gh, a part of the 1000-acre land leased by the Adanse Traditional Council to LEAPAB, an oil palm processing project, to grow oil palm to feed the factory, has been invaded by the miners engaged in illegal activities, already destroying large portions of the plantation.

Already, the management of the company has expressed fears over the current development, stating that this new trend will derail the company’s plans.

They added that it is, and will continue to affect its ability to pay back loans it took to establish the processing plant, and the farms.

Meanwhile, an appeal to President Nana Akufo-Addo to intervene and help stop the activities of the miners, as well as to help them reclaim the portions of their land which have been destroyed, has been sent to him.

LEAPAB started operations in 2018 with a GH¢20 million credit facility from the Ghana Exim Bank.

Speaking with the Daily Graphic, the Foreman of LEAPAB, Kwame Boadi, also called Agya Boadi, claimed that some influential persons and opinion leaders in the municipality were behind the activities, accusing them of being the main brains behind the illegal small-scale mining.

He further claimed that they had given their blessings to the illegal miners to mine for gold on their plantation lands, without any authorization from the relevant regulatory agencies.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Foreman of LEAPAB, Mr. Kwame Boadi, also affectionately called Agya Boadi, pointed accusing fingers at some influential persons and opinion leaders in the municipality, describing them as the brains behind the illegal activities of the small-scale miners.

According to him, the two groups of people had permitted the illegal miners to prospect for gold on the plantation without authorisation from the relevant regulatory agencies.

Nana Kwadwo Asamoah, Odikro of Adaase where a large portion of the 1000-acre land is located, has also pointed accusing fingers at Elijah Adansi Bonah, the Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive, for being the one who leads the small-scale miners to destroy the land.

However, when the paper contacted the MCE, he denied any involvement in the activities, claiming that the persons behind them only want to tarnish his hard-earned image.

“I have never engaged in illegal mining and the records are there to show that I have never supported it. Why would I knowingly engage in illegal mining when there is community mining.

“We are in the process of getting nominations for district chief executive positions and I believe these are all machinations to undermine me,” he said.