By Michael Oberteye:
Residents of surrounding communities in the Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalities in the eastern region are demanding to be resettled elsewhere due to the devastating effects mining activities of some companies that continue to pose serious threats to them. Residents say they still have no reprieve from the activities of Ghana Cement (Ghacem) and J.A. FANJ that have caused serious health and infrastructural challenges to them. Twelve years on, the challenges from the limestone mining activities still persist.
Aggrieved residents who have been speaking to Rite news told this reporter that residents of nearby and surrounding towns such as Buernya, Okper, Odugblase, Yonguase and Klo Begoro continue to be on the receiving end of heavy blasts and bombardments as the two companies engage in their deep blasting. “There is no prior announcement to alert us before the blast and everybody is shaken to the core,” Kwabena Donkor, a resident of Buernya complained bitterly to Rite news. He narrated an incident where a building collapsed onto his next door neighbor during one such blast, injuring him in the process.
According to residents, the continuous blasts over the twelve year period has left deep cracks in almost every building in those communities, pointing out these cracks in some surrounding buildings to buttress his point.
Another, Tettey Mark was incensed at the rate at which their crops were being destroyed by waste water from the mining site. He said the waste from these activities have been channeled into a river source which in turn finds its way into their farms and consequently destroys their crops. He said the chemicals used in the deep mining activities have also found their way into their sources of drinking water including a borehole that serves their community.
But that is not all; residents are at the risk of contracting respiratory diseases due to the constant inhalation of dust from the mining site. The dust which is a direct consequence of the mining activities has been a major inconvenience to the people. They say most residents suffer from the dust which is almost a daily occurrence
Residents said they once organized a demonstration to protest against the companies involved to take steps to address their concerns but which did not yield any results. They said several letters, appeals and threats to authorities to step in and salvage their plight has yielded no positive results as yet. According to them, authorities once in a while make an inspection to the place to see what is happening on the ground and that’s the closest they have come to bailing them out.
To them, politicians should think twice before approaching them for the 2016 elections if they are left to continue to endure this fate.
Responding to the issues, Assembly member for the Oborpa Electoral area, Abraham Tetteh Odonkor confirmed that indeed he was very much aware of the problem as he is also resident in the community. He said they were in regular touch with the National Disaster Management Organization, NADMO to find out more about relief assistance for members of the affected communities.
According to him, however, NADMO was also at its wits end because according to them, Ghacem and JA FANJ have legal concession to the site.
He said the closest the mining companies have come towards compensating the communities was the building of a clinic and replacing an old school block with a newly constructed one.
In a short term, he suggested the minimizing of the blasts to reduce the effects on buildings. In the long term however, he suggests the resettlement of the communities to a safer and more convenient location.
Source: ritefmonline.org
