According to him, although he consented to the leasing of a land for the purpose of bauxite mining, it was not in the Atiwa forest area, as some members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government were alleging.

[contextly_sidebar id=”AHa1GgV6fKgZSIu0Aoa4nEOSPTsDR2rd”]The Economic Adviser to the Vice President, Dr. Gideon Boako, earlier this week said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) government sold 58 percent of Ghana’s bauxite concession to a company belonging to the brother of the former President.

“They sold 58 percent on 29th December 2016 when they were leaving office. The NDC government sold 58 percent of our bauxite concession to the former President’s brother. The one they sold to him, was it possible to mine or not. They should stop this argument,” Mr Boako claimed in an interview with Citi News.

A subsequent document sighted by Citi News indicated that, the ministry, under Nii Osah Mills, signed the agreement on December 29th after they had lost the election, to allow Exton Cubic Group Limited mine bauxite on an agreed parcel of land.

But according to Nii Osah Mills, the agreement was signed in accordance with law. He could not verify whether indeed the company belongs to President Mahama’s brother.

“It is simply a mining lease under Ghana’s laws. This was a contract to lease lands for the purpose of mining bauxite deposits.”

Reports suggested that the area of land leased to the company was in a forest reserve in the Akyem area in the Eastern Region, but Nii Osah Mills said it was untrue.

“I don’t believe that the document I signed related to mining in a forest. I don’t believe so,” he said on Eyewitness News.

There is a brewing controversy over plans by the government to leverage on the country’s bauxite deposits to contract a $15 billion facility from the Chinese government.

The Vice President, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia is alleged to have said that Ghana will “use what we have to get what we want,” referring to the use of the country’s natural resources to contract the loan.

Some groups, including A-Rocha Ghana, an environmental NGO in the country, has spoken against the move saying it will among other things deprive over 5 million Ghanaians access to potable water.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post I didn’t sell forest land for bauxite mining – Osah Mills appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

More than 5 million Ghanaians including residents in some parts of Accra may not have access to potable water when the move is initiated.

[contextly_sidebar id=”geJFPQSMjYnVGlrlwwexCt3Mh2bc18ID”]This is according to a report by A-Rocha Ghana, an environmental NGO in the country focused on the preservation of natural resources.

A member of the NGO, Darly Bosu, told Umaru Sanda Amadu on Eyewitness News that many Ghanaians will lose access to potable water if the government goes ahead to mine bauxite to repay the loan, while creating jobs out of it.

“Going for this bauxite area is something Ghana shouldn’t think about at all. Certain implications come to face us as Ghanaians if we go ahead with this arrangement with the Chinese. We are foreseeing water supply to about 5 million people becoming impossible in about 5 years to come, immediately they start bauxite work in this area. It is something we cannot risk,” he said.

It emerged on Tuesday that the government was looking at leveraging its natural resources especially bauxite to contract the $15 billion loan from the Chinese government.

According to the Economic Adviser to the Vice President, Dr. Gideon Boako, the government through the agreement will construct bauxite refineries which will generate enough income to settle the loan.

But according to Mr. Bosu, it is not economical to do so comparing the cost benefit analysis of keeping the forest intact and opting for mining.

He said besides the stress it will put on the country’s water resources, some of the world’s endangered animal species currently found in the Atiwa forest will be lost as a result of government’s planned venture.

“The bauxite industry that we are talking about, if we really go for it, we can only have it for about 20 years. If you want to look at the long-term sustainability of a country you don’t risk losing all your eggs today,” he noted.

“If we want to really look in the future, we need to find ways of sustainably exploring the resources that we have without necessarily eroding the natural capital. Bauxite mining will completely destroy this forest reserve which is significant to biodiversity, water, and several other ecosystem services,” he added.

Sacrificing Atiwa Forest for ‘China Bauxite’ wrong – Inusah Fuseini

Meanwhile, the Former Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, has indicated that, the potential mining of Bauxite could see the forest reserve in Kyebi compromised.

He told Citi News in an interview that, “the bauxite at Kyebi is low grade, but it is under the Kyebi forest reserve which has been declared a global biodiversity area because of the presence of exotic species.”

“The UN is protecting the forest to ensure that we continue to get the benefit of these exotic species, the plants, and fauna that are in the forest…if you do national resource accounting, the resources over there, which is renewable, is definitely more than $15 billion dollars,” he said.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Bauxite ‘mortaging’: 5m Ghanaians to lose access to potable water – NGO appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.