A meeting has been held in Keniago, a community in the Ahafo Ano North District between community members and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the proposed Abonsuaso and Suponso alluvial mining projects by MicroStar Mines and Mineral Limited.
Michael Sandow Ali, Head of the Mining Department of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said his outfit would ensure that the company follows all procedures required for the acquisition of licenses for mining.
He says this will enable his outfit to play its supervisory and regulatory role of protecting the environment.
According to him, the public hearing forms part of requirements for the final draft of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), as according to the Environmental Impact Regulations LI 1652, 1999.
“We need to have consultations with the communities, we know the company through their consultants have done some consultations within the communities, but we need to verify, to understand how the consultations went, and so we organize this public hearing which is part of the mandate of the EPA in terms of the Environmental Assessment Regulations”
“We know that it has social concerns, it also has environmental implications, so we need to let people understand all these things before we can continue with the process.”
Ing. Sandow Ali noted that a Farmers’ compensation committee would be formed to address all grievances of farmers concerning their compensation.
“The Farmers’ compensation committee will be set up, and its members will be basically chosen by the farmers themselves, and they will articulate and negotiate with the company on the terms and the agreement that will be reached. There is a base that is being set by the Lands Evaluation Board, but our work tells you that the mining companies don’t look at that, so there will be negotiations.”
Geological Consultant for the Indian firm, MicroStar Mines and Mineral Limited, Isaac T. Adjovu, answering questions on how best the Suponso stream, a tributary of the Tano Basin which has already been polluted by illegal mining activities will be preserved, said “the company plans of doing mining in such a way that it will not affect the water system itself.”
“Mining will be done on the terraces of the river, that is, the riverbank, so that there is buffer zone from where the mining will take place and where the river is so that it will not affect the river itself.”
He said the company would “build dams so that there will be water all year round for work. We intend building about four dams to store water for our washing and processing the gold.”
He also revealed plans of land reclamation, indicating that “the mining area has been divided into blocks.”
“So with the first block, the material at the surface, the topsoil will be graded and stockpiled at one place and the over-burdened material, that is the material, soil on top of the gravels that contains the gold will also be put at another place, after the gravels have been taken out and washed”
Mrs. Belinda Prah Ogbonnaya, Assistant Officer in charge of the Tano Basin from the Water Resources Commission, said her outfit “will specify the buffer area” which would be some distance away from the stream or river.
She iterated the WRC’s commitment to ensuring that water bodies are preserved, emphasizing that the commission will revoke licenses of mining companies that fail to abide by the rules.
The Indian firm, Microstar Mines and Mineral Limited was granted a mining lease in May 2016 for alluvial mining within 24.78km2 for Abonsuaso and 9.24km2 for Suponso in the Ahafo Ano North District of the Ashanti Region.
The lease is expected to last for 10years.
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By: Loretta Timah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana