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The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Mpraeso constituency in the Eastern Region, Mr. Davis Opoku Ansah has called on the government to stop Soon Mining Company Limited from mining for gold along the Praso River.

Mr. Ansah Opoku made the call during the first ordinary meeting of the second session of the eighth assembly of the Kwahu South Municipal.

The Mpraeso lawmaker said the activities of the mining company if not checked will affect Ghana’s cocoa production.

“The effect of mining on the people of Praso will not only destroy the river body and lands but also negatively affect our cocoa production, and we all must make a decision today as we have met here”.

The assembly members also unanimously rejected Soon Mining for the operational permit.

They questioned why the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Minerals Commission would grant access to the company when they know that it will affect the only river body that serves the people of Kwahu.

“The Kwahu municipality suffers water challenges, and the people rely on river bodies for drinking and farming purposes and this is a threat to our very existence here,” one of the aggrieved assembly members said.

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The government on Thursday, April 22, 2021, ordered persons undertaking prospecting activities in forest reserves across the country to indefinitely suspend such activities.

It also directed the Minerals Commission to desist from processing or granting any request for the renewal of prospecting licences in forest reserves.

“The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources hereby directs persons and/or companies engaged in reconnaissance and/or prospecting in Forest Reserves, with or without legal authorization, to suspend such activities until further notice…The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has further directed the Minerals Commission, with immediate effect, not to accept, process and/or recommend the grant, including the renewal and/or extension, of reconnaissance and prospecting licences in Forest Reserves,” a statement from the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry said.