Concern citizens of Asante Mampong have reaffirmed their total support to the traditional council in the fight against gold mining activities in the area. The group said they are in total support of the traditional council, led by Daasebre Osei Bonsu II and will resist any attempt by the Minerals Commission to lease parts of the traditional area for mining activities.
According to them, they would not allow any mining activities to destroy their land, forest and water bodies, as had been happening in some parts of the country.
At a press conference at Mampong on Wednesday, the spokesperson of the group, Mr Victor Owusu said the group, together with the traditional council and all key stakeholders, would continue to remain resolute and resist any form of mining activities in the area.
He described as unprofessional and unacceptable the behavior of the Minerals Commission in granting a prospecting license to a mining company to prospect for gold in the area, while a similar license granted by the Commission in 2019 was totally rejected by the Mampong traditional council.
Mr Owusu said the citizens in the area were baffled at the conduct of the Minerals Commission, which had receded its intenssions in 2019 after a strong resistance by the traditional council, to go ahead to grant another permit for mining prospecting in the area on November 01, 2022.
He said the people in the area, together with their chiefs and ancestors, were up to the task to protect the natural resources bequeathed to them by their forefathers and preserve them for the generations yet to come.
Mr Owusu pointed out that the proposed mining activities which were to be conducted close to the main water bodies which supplied water to the people in the area would not be allowed to happen in the area.
He said all the people in the traditional area were together in the fight against any mining activities in the area and called on the Minerals Commission not to make any attempt to lease any part of the traditional area for mining purposes.
The Asante Mampong traditional council, led by Daasebre Osei Bonsu II, had already rejected a letter written to it by the Minerals Commission on November 01, this year, informing it of a leasing of some parts of the traditional area for mining activities.
The Council, in a strongly worded reply to the Commission, insisted that, it still stood on its grounds and would not allow any mining activities to be conducted in the traditional area.
Source: GNA
