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Former Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Inusah Fuseini, has stated that government’s decision to revoke Exton Cubic’s mining lease is discriminatory.
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu, revoked Exton Cubic’s exploration license for bauxite in the Tano Offin Reserve because they did not have some statutory documents to back the lease.
Speaking to Citi News’ Duke Mensah Opoku, the Tamale Central MP said government should have considered the business interest of Exton which is wholly Ghanaian owned.
“It was under the term of John Dramani Mahama that we started ratifying some agreements and as I speak to you, there are companies in this country operating without parliamentary ratification so when you are treating companies based on non-gratification, you must treat all companies equally.
That is fair treatment. You don’t select and pick. Selecting and picking suggests that you are discriminating against certain people.
“The motivation is status and identification; and this goes to buttress the point that empowering the private sector under Nana Akufo Addo is not inclusive… ” the former Minister complained.
Why permit was revoked
Mr. Amewu had explained that the directive was issued because the company’s three mining leases were invalid.
The Minister said the company’s failure to provide key documents covering its acceptance of the lease, notice of pendency, environmental impact assessment and other statutory requirements rendered the leases invalid.
In a letter to Exton Cubic, Mr. Amewu said “the absence of publications of the Gazette of notice of the pendency of the company’s applications and service of the notice on the various entities specified in the law is contrary to both section 13(2) of Act 703 and Regulation 177 of L.I. 2176 [Minerals and Mining Regulations.]”
We’ll sue over withdrawal of exploration permit – Exton Cubic
In another development, Exton Cubic has said it will turn to the court over government’s revocation of its exploration license.
The Public Relations Officer of Exton Cubic, Sammy Gyamfi, had indicated that his outfit is currently “studying the letters received from government” before “seeking redress by taking the necessary legal steps.”
“We will take the appropriate legal steps to seek redress… These are technical and legal issues which our lawyers will go through,” he stated.
Source: citifmonline.com
