Former Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Inusah Fuseini, has stated that government’s decision to revoke Exton Cubic’s mining lease is discriminatory.<\/p>\n
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu, revoked Exton Cubic’s \u00a0exploration license for bauxite in the Tano Offin Reserve because they did not have some statutory documents to back the lease.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”cqOSm7GNnWv1kkyQ7MdWm9Sso1hmbYmj”]Speaking to Citi News’<\/strong> Duke Mensah Opoku, the Tamale Central MP said government should have considered the business interest of Exton which is wholly Ghanaian owned.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was under the term of John Dramani Mahama that we started ratifying some agreements and as I speak to you, there are companies in this country operating without parliamentary ratification so when you are treating companies based on non-gratification, you must treat all companies equally. That is fair treatment. You don\u2019t select and pick. Selecting and picking suggests that you are discriminating against certain people.<\/p>\n “The motivation is status and identification; and this goes to buttress the point that empowering the private sector under Nana Akufo Addo is not inclusive… \u201d the former Minister complained.<\/p>\n Why permit was revoked\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr. Amewu had explained that the directive was issued because the company\u2019s three mining leases were invalid.<\/p>\n The Minister said the company\u2019s failure to provide key documents covering its acceptance of the lease, notice of pendency, environmental impact assessment and other statutory requirements rendered the leases invalid.<\/p>\n In a letter to Exton Cubic, Mr. Amewu said \u201cthe absence of publications of the Gazette of notice of the pendency of the company\u2019s applications and service of the notice on the various entities specified in the law is contrary to both section 13(2) of Act 703 and Regulation 177 of L.I. 2176 [Minerals and Mining Regulations.]\u201d<\/p>\n We’ll sue over withdrawal of exploration permit – Exton Cubic\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n In another development, Exton Cubic has said it will turn to the court over government\u2019s revocation of its exploration license.<\/p>\n The Public Relations Officer of Exton Cubic, Sammy Gyamfi, had indicated that his outfit is currently \u201cstudying the letters received from government\u201d before \u201cseeking redress by taking the necessary legal steps.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe will take the appropriate legal steps to seek redress\u2026 These are technical and legal issues which our lawyers will go through,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Marian Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
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