Stakeholder Engagement by State Agencies Key To Address Electrochem/Ada Impasse Over Songor – Parliament

The Joint Committees on Mines and Energy and Lands and Forestry have made several recommendations regarding the operations of Electrochem Ghana Limited after thoroughly considering submissions from various stakeholders.

The committee in its report suggests that Electrochem Ghana Limited continue to allocate space within its concession area to local miners in a mutually beneficial arrangement. This, the committee members believe would promote local participation in the salt mining industry. However, it emphasized that local mining activities must comply with environmental laws and practices as approved by the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Electrochem Ghana Limited is encouraged to help local miners adopt best practices to ensure the concession area remains valuable and production is not hindered.

The report also called for ongoing engagement with stakeholders to address misconceptions among some community members who believe they own the salt deposits. The committee highlighted the importance of educating these individuals about the national ownership of minerals like salt, drawing parallels with gold in the Ashanti Region, petroleum in the Western Region, and bauxite in the Eastern Region.

The committee again urged the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to launch a comprehensive educational campaign in the Salt Mining Area to help indigenes understand that salt is a national resource.

“Political pundits should desist from making political capital out of the use of national assets for the development of the nation Ghana rather than inciting indigenes to believe that they are being robbed by the Government of the day.”

“There should be a serious security engagement in the communities for them to come to terms with the fact that it is in the best interests of Ghana and the local communities to desist from any form of lawlessness to pave the way for a national undertaking with export benefits to function at full throttle. Parliament and NCCE should be the arrowheads in this regard. The indigenes should be educated by their chiefs. Stakeholders and the police that the Nation Ghana has a stake in ElectroChem Ghana Limited and its salt mining business in Ada Songhor and any acts of lawlessness against the Company is a direct confrontation with Law Enforcement Agencies in Ghana. All national undertakings over the country including the gold mining business of Ashanti Goldfields are operational because of this basic understanding.”

“The police should continue with the investigation of the death of Numo Korletey Agormedah who was allegedly killed on the 6th day of November 2023 and prosecute the perpetrator(s) of the said crime. All minor criminal complaints associated with the salt mining business which can be resolved between the complainants and the culprits to tone down tension in the salt-producing environment. The chiefs should take up such peaceful initiatives. Any survey challenge relating to the extent of the concession should be brought to the attention of the Minerals Commission for investigations.”

“Electrochem Ghana Limited should enlarge their social intervention activities as their fortunes improve to bankroll poverty in the communities. Electrochem Ghana Limited in the roll-out of this immensely significant national project should desecrate cemeteries, fetish houses and places within the concession area.”

It will be recalled that on August 30, President Akufo-Addo commissioned an ultra-modern salt mining and processing plant at Ada Songor owned by Electrochem Ghana Limited, despite stern opposition and persistent protests from residents of the area. This resulted in a feud between Electrochem Ghana Limited and the residents of Ada.

Electrochem a subsidiary of the McDan Group of Companies is the largest salt and chlorine-alkali manufacturing firm in West Africa with a concession spanning 41,000 acres at Ada Songor.

The company which was granted a fifteen-year mining lease to explore the salt resource in the Ada Sangor launched its operations in November 2020 with a target to produce one million (1,000,000) metric tons of salt per annum to supply to both the local and foreign markets.

Source:newsalertgh.com