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03.11.2009 Science

NEWMONT AND THE CYANIDE SPILAGE SAGA`Non-existent` communities affected want relocation

03.11.2009 LISTEN
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About six communities, which Newmont and some chiefs claimed were non-existent, and dotted around the stream leading to the Subri River into which Newmont spilled cyanide recently, have called on the government and other stakeholders to relocate them.

According to the residents in these communities, which are namely, Kwamebourkrom, Kyeikrom, Kofi Gyaka,Kuma Gyaka, Adwoa Nsowakrom and others dotted along the affected area say, they can no longer bear the numerous challenges they face as a result of the mining activities.

Newmont Ghana in recent times has been whirled in a lot of controversies after it spilled processing solution containing cyanide into the Subri River, which resulted in the death of the controversial “six fish”.

WACAM , a mining advocacy non-governmental organization, on Saturday, October 17, 2009, issued a statement indicating that the spillage affected residents of Kantinka, Afua Serwakrom, Norbertkrom, Kyeikrom, Bronikrom, Lawyerkrom, Kwamebourkrom and a host of other hamlets which depend on the river for their source of drinking water.

But Newmont had insisted that only two hamlets could possibly have been affected by the spillage.

In the mist of these controversies, Odeneho Dadeako Nsiah Ababio, Chief of Kenyasi Number Two, was also reported by ghanabusinessnews.com as saying, “all these towns that WACAM is mentioning are not in my area – I know of only Gyakakrom and Bourkrom, and it is strange to my ears to hear all the names of supposed towns affected in my area.”

According to the chiefs, they knew of only Gyakakrom and Bourkrom being affected by the spillage, and that the other towns mentioned by WACAM were non-existent, and thus challenged WACAM to provide evidence of the existence of the towns it listed as having been affected by the cyanide spillage.

But, a fact finding mission embarked on by The Chronicle to the affected areas, tells a sordid story of a lot more affected hamlets being abounded and left to face the numerous challenges posed by the mining activities.

Contrary to assertions that only two communities were affected, The Chronicle can report that there are a lot more hamlets scattered along the incident area, whose source of drinking water has been disturbed.

Although Newmont has provided a poly tank to serve the water needs of the affected communities, a lot of questions could be raised about its safety.

The poly tank had been placed unguarded in the middle of a thick bush, about some 300 metres from the nearest community.

The residents told The Chronicle that when the spillage occurred, they suggested to Newmont to provide each community with a poly tank to guarantee the safety of their drinking water, but said that suggestion fell on deaf hears.

Isaac Awuni, a resident of Kwamebourkrom, one of the affected communities, told The Chronicle that before the spillage, their only source of drinking water - a hand-dug well - was occasionally submerged due to the mining activities, and all calls for alternative sources of water from the mining company had proved futile.

He mentioned noise pollution, and difficulties in getting access to vehicles in times of emergency, as some of challenges they have had to grapple with all this while.

He explained that the nearest community, where they got easy access to a vehicle in times of emergency, had been relocated, to pave the way for mining activities.

“So now if any of us gets sick in the middle of the night, we have to walk miles to Kenyasi Number One, to get a car to carry the patient to the hospital,” he lamented.

He expressed shock at news making the rounds that these communities did not exist.

When The Chronicle contacted Odeneho Dadeako Nsiah Ababio, Chief of Kenyasi Number Two, who had earlier disputed the existence of the other communities, he explained that it had been a long time since he personally visited those areas, after he had constructed a road through those areas to his teak farm many years ago.

“It was until recently, when Newmont informed us that they had polluted our water, that we toured the affected areas. We reached a point where we found some dead fishes in the water; .in fact we did not go any where else,” he said in vernacular.

He explained further that those communities might have sprung up years after he cultivated his farm in the area, saying also that the possibility of some of these communities springing up after they heard of the mining company's intention to mine in the area, so as to get compensation.

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