The Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has urged stakeholders, especially the media, to fact-check the allegations made by the 2020 Parliamentary Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), James Kofi Annan, regarding a possible sale of the Ramsar site in Winneba to some investors for the mining of lithium.
Mr. Annan led some residents of Effutu in a protest on Tuesday morning to register their displeasure over the alleged sale of the site.
According to Mr. Annan, “We are registering our displeasure with Green Metal Resources or any other company for the sale of the Ramsar site to them. In 2007, there were several attempts to carry out mining in the Aboakyire hunting ground. Caribbean Atlantic Holding Ghana Limited applied to the Minerals Commission for a mining concession, but it was opposed. In 2012, Obotan Resources Limited also did the same but was opposed. In 2016, Elite Resources applied but was also turned down.”
Just last year, Green Metal Resources Limited applied for a concession, but we are surprised that even after they were turned down, they have applied again and have been given the go-ahead. Our traditional councils, through a press conference, expressed their displeasure against the move, but I am surprised that some people are pulling strings to let them mine here.”
Mr. Afenyo-Markin, in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Tuesday, urged the media to “subject the story heard from the NDC parliamentary candidate to fact-checking. Let’s check them. If indeed, as he claims, the Minerals Commission at all times had the publication on its website, and it just pulled it down, that is a serious matter… Let him put all he has down and get the Minerals Commission to validate it.”