President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked the chiefs and people of Ada, in the Greater Accra Region, to allow a salt mining company, ElectroChem, to operate in the area.
Residents have for months resisted the operations of the company, citing several reasons.
At a meeting with the Ada Traditional Council at the Jubilee House, Nana Akufo-Addo said the Ada Salt Project must be accepted by all.
“The project is a major project, not just for Ada but for Ghana as a whole. If fully developed, it has the potential to make a major contribution to the economic development of our country. We are told that next door to us, in Nigeria, there is a demand for one million tonnes of salt every year, which is currently satisfied by Brazilian exporters.
“It is the responsibility of all of us, especially with you in the vanguard, to give maximum support to this development. So I’m very happy that the paramount chief and his elders have taken this progressive stand and are determined to assist to make sure that this investment is successful,” the President said.
The chiefs and people of Ada on May 8 demonstrated their support for salt mining company, Electrochem Ghana Limited, in reaction to a demonstration by another faction that is opposed to the company.
A group against the operation of Electrochem Ghana Limited took to the streets in Accra to register their displeasure towards the involvement of the chiefs and alleged security brutalities over the years.
According to the group, the activities of Electrochem Ghana Limited have deprived them of their livelihoods, and they want their fair share of the over 40,000-acre Songor salt concession.
The Songor salt concession has sparked numerous agitations and litigation ever since the government handed it to the chairman of the McDan Group of Companies, Dr. Daniel McKorley, to mine.
