We want our lagoon: Another view
I refer to the front-page story of the Daily Graphic on December 27, 2013 titled ‘we want our lagoon: Agbozume tells Indian investors’ and write to comment as follows:
Advertisement
The reaction of many people I encountered who read the story is that the Chiefs and people of Agbozume are against investment in their area and hence against economic development and employment creation.
The Constitution states that all minerals are ‘the property of the Republic of Ghana and shall be vested in the President on behalf of, and in trust for the people of Ghana.’ The people have interpreted this to mean that so long as the Minerals Commission had issued a mineral licence, the operation of any investor is legal.
By implication, any government agency such as the Minerals Commission, whose officials sit in air-conditioned offices in Accra, could just take a map of Ghana and knowing that a mineral is found at this or that place, could just mark the area in red and then issue a mineral licence to any investor to go and mine the mineral.
The Indian investor and his local cronies are telling the people of Agbozume that, that portion of the Keta Lagoon is no more a common property resource on which peoples’ lives depend. The government had marked the area out as a concession, we have paid money to the government as mineral licence fee, and so we can do anything.
The Indian investor, precisely Kensington Industries Ltd, bought the concession from West African Goldfields Ltd. West African Goldfields Ltd had their environmental permit in 2002. West African Goldfields did not move to site when it sold the concession to Kensington.
In 2010, Kensington moved to site. Kensington deceived the Environmental Protection Agency that it was taking over an ongoing operation and so did not do an Environmental Impact Assessment.
They have flattened ‘Taxlako’ an island in the lagoon. They are moving on to ‘Wuakui,’ another island in the lagoon. These places are bird sanctuaries meant to be protected.
Other Trending Stories
The people of Agbozume started their protest since October 2010 but inertia on the part of government agencies led to the front-page story of December 27, 2013, which is the subject matter of this letter to the editor.
Various letters have been written to many governmental and traditional leaders but there has not been any response. The last letter from the concerned citizens of Agbozume in September 2013 triggered a flurry of activities because a security crises was imminent.
The Regional Minister and the Municipal Chief Executive are now trying to intimidate the people of Agbozume using the state security agencies.
The issue at stake is whether it is right and proper for a large portion of the Keta Lagoon to be marked off and dedicated to salt mining.
Beginning from the Afiadenyigba-Havedzi Road all the way to the Aflao border, those wetlands had been zoned for salt mining. Why were the locals not involved in the decision to do that? The area under consideration is a Ramsar site and Ghana has signed and ratified the Ramsar Convention.
In addition, the investor and their local cronies are infusing a political dimension to the problem they have created. The people of Agbozume are not against investment and economic development.
We are for peoples’ rights.
Redeemer Kowu,
Lecturer, Data Link Institute, Tema.
Tel. 0242715701,
email: redeemerkowu@yahoo.co.uk