Mining Company accused of reneging on promise to host communities – Report

The Savannah Research & Advocacy Network (SRAN) has urged the government to look into the resettlement arrangement it had with the Cardinal/Shandong Mining Company for the resettlement of Biung and Accra communities in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.

According to SRAN, a survey it conducted showed that the mining company had failed to implement a lot of

Read full articlethe resettlement agreements for the two communities it and with it had with the government even though it has stated mining after it was given the granted mining rights in an area.

The report, which was sighted by GhanaWeb, indicated that if the government does not intervene the members of the two communities will leave the communities due to the hardship they are facing which will lead to them becoming ghost towns.

“On 5th August 2022, the two new communities were commissioned by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor (MP) amidst fanfare, with selfcongratulatory of how the communities have been given first-rate resettlements. He implored the communities to maintain the place for themselves and future generations. He further called on the communities to provide the necessary support and peace for the mining companies for the gold extraction.

“In brief, the residents were promised that they will be resettled into better conditions that will include at least one acre of land around their homes and that provisions will be made for their animals and be compensated during the process of resettlement.

“However, during our visits, we found that these conditions were not fully met. The resettlements did not take into account the socio-economic and cultural milieu that the people were coming from. The people were resettled into crammed properties which is a far cry from where they are coming from. No provisions were made whatsoever for the expansion of families in the communities.

“Sanitation conditions such as baths and toilets are of poor quality. The surroundings are not paved and red earth was left in between the houses. The gutters are inadequate and will soon fill up with red sand. The boreholes were not deeply dug up and as a result, residents have to wait for hours to fill their water containers,” parts of the report.

The report urged the government to act as soon as possible and negotiate a better deal with the mining company or at least get them to fulfil the early agreements.

It added that if nothing is done Cardinal/Shandong will mine gold and other minerals in the area and leave the country with the land of ‘terrible and desolate environmental catastrophe”.





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