Government To Be Sued Over Mining Bauxite In Atewa Forest
Private Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu and other Civil Society Groups are suing the government over its decision to mine in the Atewa forest.
He says mining in the Atewa forest will affect the habitat of some rare species and also adversely affect the source of drinking water of over a million people in Accra specifically.
Speaking on Okay FM’s 'Ade Akye Abia' program, he added that though the government is only mining a minute of 160 million metric tones of bauxite, they fear it will cause more harm than good to the people of Ghana.
"We want the government to understand that though it can mine in other parts like Nyinahin and Awaso, we will certainly not allow the mining of bauxite in the Atewa forest," he said.
He added that they are almost done with the court process and maybe possibly be heading to court in February to seek a court injunction on the mining in the Atewa forest.
The government should note that we are not against its policies or positive agenda, but we are more concerned about the human lives, the species and the environment that may be affected.
In 2017, Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China to develop a bauxite industry in Ghana with Atewa Range Forest as one of the sources of raw materials.
Following this disclosure, A Rocha Ghana, Flower Ghana, Awula Serwah and Oteng Adjei and other institutions such as; Save the Frogs Ghana, Herp Ghana, Ghana Institute of Foresters, Ghana Wildlife Society, The Development Institute, Friends of the Earth Ghana, Tropenbos Ghana and Coalition of NGOs Against Mining Atewa embarked on a series of campaign against the decision to mine bauxite at the said location.
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