Company cutting logs in Volta Lake attacked by locals; fold up

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• sami 11 years ago

  you can resist by peacefull means
  please we ewes need to use our courts and common sense there is no place for violent acts

  you can resist by peacefull means
  please we ewes need to use our courts and common sense there is no place for violent acts

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• C.Y. ANDY-K 11 years ago

  Only a semi-illiterate jerk like you can turn this issue into a tribal one. Who told you the villagers who attached the workers were Ewes? The news is too sketchy to determine that.
  
  Conflicts often arise over projects all ...
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  Only a semi-illiterate jerk like you can turn this issue into a tribal one. Who told you the villagers who attached the workers were Ewes? The news is too sketchy to determine that.
  
  Conflicts often arise over projects all over the world. It is the pathetic failure of the NDC regime to deal with this particular one promptly that must we must focus on, not the suffer-head villagers involved. It is unbelievable that a simple issue like that can be allowed to derail this project.
  
  Andy-K

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• ELINAN 11 years ago

  Any timber in water this long is a high quality timber anywhere in the world among wood workers, a secret unknown to our ignorant politicians who just wanted these billion dollar logs vanish and took $120 millions for it.
  Wh ...
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  Any timber in water this long is a high quality timber anywhere in the world among wood workers, a secret unknown to our ignorant politicians who just wanted these billion dollar logs vanish and took $120 millions for it.
  When I last visited the site to purchase wood from the company, the high grade lumbers were not even sold to the locals as they are for export that earn the company 1000% on their investment.
  I think the the unsophisticated village politicians realized their stupidity for given away a gold mine.
  And on top of that, most Ghanaians have no clue and all they want is get the damn dead trees out of the water and give us a job.

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• Military Man 11 years ago

  Now let's see if our dumb politicians will also catch on.
  
  Have you been talking to these villagers and putting ideas into heads, ELINAN?...LOL

  Now let's see if our dumb politicians will also catch on.
  
  Have you been talking to these villagers and putting ideas into heads, ELINAN?...LOL

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• CHA 11 years ago

  Good job- they are destroying the environment

  Good job- they are destroying the environment

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• Frank Agyena-Karikari 11 years ago

  What is your level of education about the environment? Do you know the number of people who have died as a results of these logs in the lake? I once became a statistics myself because of such logs. That is why we can't move f ...
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  What is your level of education about the environment? Do you know the number of people who have died as a results of these logs in the lake? I once became a statistics myself because of such logs. That is why we can't move forward. Why is Mahama not solving the issue? For votes?

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• SUNKWA 11 years ago

  CSRD PROMISED PARLIAMENT IT'LL STOP WORK AND ADDRESS ANY NEGATIVE IMPACT OF THEIR OPERATIONS ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES.
  FISHERFOLK COMPLAINED OF TOTAL LOSS OF CATCH WHEREVER THE COMPANY CONDUCTED ITS UNDERWATER LOGGING; CAUSING M ...
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  CSRD PROMISED PARLIAMENT IT'LL STOP WORK AND ADDRESS ANY NEGATIVE IMPACT OF THEIR OPERATIONS ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES.
  FISHERFOLK COMPLAINED OF TOTAL LOSS OF CATCH WHEREVER THE COMPANY CONDUCTED ITS UNDERWATER LOGGING; CAUSING MANY TO RELOCATE IN THE AFRAM BASIN OF THE VOLTA LAKE.
  THE FISHERFOLK THROUGH AN NGO AND NADMO HELD A FORUM AT WHICH CSRD WAS ASKED TO SHOW PROOF THAT ITS OPERATIONS WERE ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE; GIVEN THE EXPERIENCE OF SEVERAL FISHING COMMUNITIES. INSTEAD, THE COMPANY HAS INSISTED ON GOVERNMENT PROVIDING PROTECTION FOR ITS OPERATIONS AGAINST
  COMMUNITIES.
  
  ANOTHER PROPOSAL WAS FOR CSRD TO FOCUS ON MID-LAKE TREES, FURTHER AWAY FROM THE FISHING ZONES BUT THIS HAS NOT GONE DOWN WELL WITH THE COMPANY.
  
  TO BE FAIR, INVESTORS MUST NOT SEEK TO APPLY STANDARDS TO AFRICA THAT THEY WOULD NOT APPLY TO THEIR OWN COUNTRIES; NOT IN THIS GLOBALIZED ERA.
  
  CSRD ADMITS THERE IS TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TIMBER ACREAGE IN UNDERWATER VOLTA LAKE FOR OVER 25 YEARS OPERATION. THEY SHOULD GO WHERE POOR FISHERFOLK WILL NOT SUFFER AND NO ONE WILL OBJECT TO THEIR OPERATIONS. IT WILL BE A SHAME IF THEY LEAVE SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY INSIST ON DISRUPTING THE LIVELIHOODS AND STABILITY OF FISHING COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE EXISTED FOR AGES. COMPROMISE IS NEEDED.

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• K ASARE 11 years ago

  Again, its to late. The company is packing up right now because the fishing folks, who use bamboo to catch fish (WHICH IS ILLEGAL) have eliminated the fish population, not the company. Government has a role to interject and ...
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  Again, its to late. The company is packing up right now because the fishing folks, who use bamboo to catch fish (WHICH IS ILLEGAL) have eliminated the fish population, not the company. Government has a role to interject and resolve the problems, those being illegal fishing. So the locals employed by the company are now out of work because of illegal fishing practices and lack of government intervention to introduce programs to enhance the fishing communities livelihoods such as fish farming etc. This is not the companies role. Say good bye to foreign investment when other international companies see this news article.

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• Dodzi 11 years ago

  Lets educate the illiterate villagers first. They may have a point

  Lets educate the illiterate villagers first. They may have a point

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• Captain Canada 11 years ago

  belongs to them somehow?

  belongs to them somehow?

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• NTIKUMA ANANSE 11 years ago

  AND WITH ALL THIS, BATURE IS HERE IN GHANA, TELLING GHANAIANS WE SHOULD NOT VOTE JOHN MAHAMA OUT. THE CUTTTING OF TREES WOULD MAKE THE LAKE MORE NAVIGABLE AND CARGO AND PASSENGER VESSELS WOULD HAVE PROVIDED SERVICES FROM THE ...
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  AND WITH ALL THIS, BATURE IS HERE IN GHANA, TELLING GHANAIANS WE SHOULD NOT VOTE JOHN MAHAMA OUT. THE CUTTTING OF TREES WOULD MAKE THE LAKE MORE NAVIGABLE AND CARGO AND PASSENGER VESSELS WOULD HAVE PROVIDED SERVICES FROM THE VOLTA AREA TO FAR UP THE NORTH, CREATING MORE JOBS FOR GHANAIANS. THE CANADIAN COMPANY WAS BROUGHT IN BY THE NPP GOVERNMENT TO DO THIS VITAL JOB AND THE CLUELESS, VISIONLESS JOHN MAHAMA AND HIS CORRUPT, INCOMPETENT NDC HAS KILLED THE PROJECT OFF, MAKING GHANA LOSE BILLIONS, JOBS AND THE FUTURE USEFUL BENEFICIAL USES OF THE LAKE FOR OUR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

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• Kofi K 11 years ago

  Clearly the government is completely useless and unable to resolve simple social matters, despite their duty to do so. This failure of government shines a spotlight on the HIGH RISK associated with foreign investment into Gh ...
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  Clearly the government is completely useless and unable to resolve simple social matters, despite their duty to do so. This failure of government shines a spotlight on the HIGH RISK associated with foreign investment into Ghana and we are all losing out in the near and long term. This is a total disgrace with HUGE economic consequences. I feel horrible for the workers of the company who have lost their jobs resulting from illegal fishing activities/villagers interests.

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• K ASARE 11 years ago

  Yep...forget about foreign investment in Ghana in the future. I guess I might as well start illegally catching fish in the lake too, or at least until they are gone.

  Yep...forget about foreign investment in Ghana in the future. I guess I might as well start illegally catching fish in the lake too, or at least until they are gone.

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• SUNKWA 11 years ago

  DON'T GO SPREADING IGNORANCE! YES, THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BE HARVESTED FROM UNDERWATER LOGGING OF VOLTA LAKE TIMBER BUT THERE IS NO PROOF GHANA STANDS TO MAKE MUCH.
  
  FOLKS HAVE BEEN DEMANDING PROOF OF ...
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  DON'T GO SPREADING IGNORANCE! YES, THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BE HARVESTED FROM UNDERWATER LOGGING OF VOLTA LAKE TIMBER BUT THERE IS NO PROOF GHANA STANDS TO MAKE MUCH.
  
  FOLKS HAVE BEEN DEMANDING PROOF OF THE BENEFITS WHEN 22 FISHING COMMUNITIES COMPLAIN OF COLLAPSE OF LIVELIHOODS AFTER LESS THAN A YEAR OF OPERATIONS. NO ONE KNOWS HOW MUCH INCOME FROM THE PRIME WOOD EXPORTS RETURNS TO THE NATIONAL PURSE ANYWAY. SO WHEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA, DON'T GO TELLING WISTFUL TALES BECAUSE YOU WANT TO SCORE CHEAP POLITICAL POINTS!

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• EZEKIEL 11 years ago

  Apparently, we cannot do ANYTHING RIGHT apart from National Stealing competition!!(CORRUPTION)
  Having signed such a CONTRACT with the Canadian Firm,WE(govt)or whichever Body is responsible,should have mounted a SERIOUS CAMPA ...
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  Apparently, we cannot do ANYTHING RIGHT apart from National Stealing competition!!(CORRUPTION)
  Having signed such a CONTRACT with the Canadian Firm,WE(govt)or whichever Body is responsible,should have mounted a SERIOUS CAMPAIGN TO INFORM the stakeholders in the Business!! This, we maybe didn't do.
  Wait for the "judgement debt" coming in a few years!!

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• Max Carter 11 years ago

  Is it gread, or Selfishness, or they the people were not adequately pre-adviced as they should have rightly been as to the potencial benefits, not to mention the un-necessary lost of life. I assume it is gread, a character o ...
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  Is it gread, or Selfishness, or they the people were not adequately pre-adviced as they should have rightly been as to the potencial benefits, not to mention the un-necessary lost of life. I assume it is gread, a character of blacks people, not just Ghanian?

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• Kwaku Amexo 11 years ago

  No one can take the indigenous people for granted. Harvesting the logs is a great idea.there is a lot of money to be made from the logs. The project also needs investment that the locals cannot afford. For such a huge and im ...
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  No one can take the indigenous people for granted. Harvesting the logs is a great idea.there is a lot of money to be made from the logs. The project also needs investment that the locals cannot afford. For such a huge and important project to succeed, first the stakeholders should understand that the livelihood of the villagers depend on those very logs that hinder take transportation. Find other ways of fishing or engage them in fish farming, share the profits from the logs with them.it should be win- win situation. No amount of education will help until other means of making money for survival is provided. To those villagers, day to day survival is more important than anything else.

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• KOFI 11 years ago

  I CAN SMELL THE PAYMENT OF JUDGEMENT DEBT IN THE NEAR FUTURE TO THE COMPANY. FREE MONEY TO BE THROWN AWAY BY INACTION OF THESE FOOLS WE HAVE AS LEADER.I NOW FIND IT VERY DIFFICULT TO GO ALONG DR. KWAME NKRUMAH'S WORDS " THE B ...
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  I CAN SMELL THE PAYMENT OF JUDGEMENT DEBT IN THE NEAR FUTURE TO THE COMPANY. FREE MONEY TO BE THROWN AWAY BY INACTION OF THESE FOOLS WE HAVE AS LEADER.I NOW FIND IT VERY DIFFICULT TO GO ALONG DR. KWAME NKRUMAH'S WORDS " THE BLACK MAN WAS CAPABLE TO MANAGE A COUNTRY'S AFFAIRS. MAYBE HE WANTED TO BE PRESIDENT AT ALL COST. JUSTICE APPAU, COMMISSIONER FOR JUDGEMENT DEBT, THIS IS THE TIME YOU SHOULD ACT TO AVERT SUCH OCCURRENCE.AND I WISH AS A COUNTRY WE SHOULD MAKE YOUR OFFICE A PERMANENT THING AND ATTACHED TO PARLIAMENT.

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• KWABENA OHEMENG,LONDON 11 years ago

  It is high time the government stood firm and acted decisively in the interest if the nation?Why should the government allow such an important project to fold because of the actions of some ignorant law-breaking citizens. Apa ...
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  It is high time the government stood firm and acted decisively in the interest if the nation?Why should the government allow such an important project to fold because of the actions of some ignorant law-breaking citizens. Apart from the huge financial benefit from the harvesting of the logs and the creation of jobs removal of the trees from the Volta Lake will make travelling on it by boat vey safe.The government must act robustly and decisively now to ensure that the companies harvesting logs from the Volta Lake do not fold up because of the behaviour of some local hooligans. Should we allow hooligans to stifle the development and progress of the nation?

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• K ASARE 11 years ago

  Ahhhh....its a little late for action. The company is packing up, taking their equipment, money and jobs to a more reputable/investable country to operate in.

  Ahhhh....its a little late for action. The company is packing up, taking their equipment, money and jobs to a more reputable/investable country to operate in.

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• Captain Canada 11 years ago

  to. How do a small group of half naked savages stop a project that employs many people and brings revenue to the government? Why is the government silent over this? O Jerry how I miss you. Such nonsense would not have been to ...
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  to. How do a small group of half naked savages stop a project that employs many people and brings revenue to the government? Why is the government silent over this? O Jerry how I miss you. Such nonsense would not have been tolerated by the crazy one. Send in the soldiers and let them beat the shit out of these savages. A whiteman will consider this underwater forest a resource to be turned into revenue for the country. But Ghanaman's brain doesn't go that far. It is stuck at fufu/goatmeat with the accompanying shit eating grin.

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• Military Man 11 years ago

  Don't forget that Jerry's party is still in power. He was and still is a corrupt buffoon, no matter how his hero worshipers want to portray him.
  He came and opened up the floodgates to indiscipline and also sanctioned mega c ...
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  Don't forget that Jerry's party is still in power. He was and still is a corrupt buffoon, no matter how his hero worshipers want to portray him.
  He came and opened up the floodgates to indiscipline and also sanctioned mega corruption after he put everyone to sleep when he used his initial fight on corruption as a diversion.
  
  The records are there and we are still living it. So don't bury your head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich.
  He a 'crazy' one alright.... beating the shit out of people and murdering people on the Teshie and Bundase ranges didn't permanently resolve our issues, did they?
  Instead, the indiscipline he started has 'come home to roost' in all its splendour, as the saying goes. The massive corruption practices we see in the country now can ,therefore, be classified as the "side kick" to that indiscipline your 'hero' ushered Ghanaians into. After all, he later on became the kingpin of corruption. He is still enjoying that booty he accrued from corruption.

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