Assembly Members meet on mining

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Friday October 21, 2011.
Assembly Members in some communities affected by mining have undergone training to enable them participate in effectively in decision-making at the local level with regards to issues of mining.

The three-day workshop was organized by Wacam, an NGO campaigning against the excesses of mining activities on local communities and it was attended by participants from mining areas including Obuasi, Kenyase, Grumisa, Ntotroso, Dumase, Bogoso, Akyem Saamang, Ntronang, Hweakwae, Maase Nsuta.

The workshop was supported by DKA, a Catholic charity organization based in Austria together with Oxfam America.

At the end of the training, the participants made up of 11 assembly members and 7 Unit Committee Members issued a communiqué urging the government through Ministry of Local Government and rural Development to compel all assemblies to enforce by-laws on the environment.

They resolved that issues of climate change have become important issues in the world and economic reasons should not be the only motivation for the implementation of development projects.

“Ghana is currently described as one of the countries in the world with very high rate of depletion of forest cover. We therefore condemn the granting of mining leases to companies such as Newmont Akyem Mine and Chirano Gold Limited to mine in Ajenua Bepo forest reserve and Tano Suraw forest reserve.”

They called on the government and its agencies to consult communities that would be “potentially affected by mining operations based on the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) which has been ratified and gazetted by the government of Ghana in the ECOWAS Directive on the Harmonisation of Policies and Guiding Principles in the Mining Sector.”

“ On the basis of the FPIC, the right of mining communities to say ‘No’ to surface mining operations which they think will affect their livelihood negatively should be respected by government”, they said.

“As Assembly members in mining communities, we wish to condemn surface mining operations which have polluted water bodies and destroyed the livelihoods of people living in mining communities.”

According to the Assembly Members it is the central government, not the District or Municipal Assemblies that should provide remuneration for District Assembly and Unit Committee members, since the resources that go into the discharge of the duties of Assembly members are enormous.

They also said that it is the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development who should ensure that by-laws of District Assemblies are given legal backing and added that in their view, the thirty per cent of government appointees serving in District or Municipal Assemblies should strictly be people with special expertise.

The workshop discussed the roles and responsibilities of Assembly Members, the development role of District Assemblies, the District Assembly as a planning authority, Assembly Members and mining advocacy and an overview of the minerals and mining Act (Act 703),2006 among others.