Atewa Forest: We will not allow you to mine in the forest – CCLA tells government

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The National Coordinator for Concerned Citizens of Atewa Landscape, Akyeanor Tabi, has said that they will never allow the government to mine in the Atiwa Forest.

Akyeanor Tabi speaking on Radio 1’s ‘Our Land Our Future’ program explains that there is a need to protect the natural resources in the Atewa forest.

He stressed that the Atewa forest is one of the evergreen Sub-Saharan African forests and it provides a lot of ecological benefits to the people.

“We have a lot of headwaters in this forest and it is one of the main reasons why this forest is reserved”, he told the host Michael Agyapong Agyapa.

“If this bauxite is mined, the vegetation is going to be destroyed and a lot of chemicals which will be used to mine this bauxite will drain into these rivers which will be polluted to affect human health.”

“Mining bauxite is going to create job opportunities for people, how is that going to happen? , because bauxite will be mined with machines, this is not true,”

“The only alternative to generate money with Atewa is to use it for a national park and turn it into a tourism center and a lot of organizations will like to invest in this which will create a lot of job opportunities for the youth.” – he concluded.

Atiwa Forest In Court

On Monday, February 6, a hearing of the suit in which a group of environmentalists, climate change activists, individuals, civil society, and non-governmental organizations have dragged the government to court over the prospecting bauxite mine in the Atewa Range Forest had commenced at the High Court in Accra.

Arocha Ghana and 10 other plaintiffs are challenging the government’s move to mine bauxite in the Atewa Range Forest contending that the government is undertaking mining activities in the Forest without mineral rights.

The Plaintiffs are urging the court to compel the government to restore or pay the cost of damages that had been caused as a result of recognizance, prospecting, and clearing of roads in the Forest.

The National Director of Arocha Ghana, the first witness for the plaintiffs, had tendered in his witness statement and the same was adopted by the court presided over by Justice John Nyante Nyandu.

Dr. Seth Appiah Kubi told the court that even though they had not reached any consensus with the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) at the time, they went ahead to announce publicly that Atewa Forest is one of the three targeted areas for bauxite mining.

By: Radiooneghana.com/Abena Ampofo