Wacam calls on media to be advocate for protection of rights of children in mining communities
A media and stakeholder’s forum has been held in Accra with a call on journalists to be advocate for the protection of rights of children in mining communities.
The media engagement also stressed the need for prudent environmental governance.
Organised by Wacam, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), in collaboration with Oxfam in Ghana, under the Fair4All Programme, the forum brought together some selected media personnel and representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) to deliberate on human rights and environmental concerns and how they were impacting the education of children in mining areas.
It formed part of Wacam’s media engagements which seek to bring to the attention of the media on current issues in the mining space.
Speaking at the forum on Thursday, August 31, 2023, at Tomreik Hotel, the Executive Director of Wacam, Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, asserted that a small group of people can help bring about a positive change in society.
In the light of the above, he encouraged journalists to continuously shed light on issues, especially in the mining space, and not to be dissuaded by governments’ inability to ensure that the right things are done in the sector.
While not disputing the fact that there are positives associated with mining, he noted that loads of negative things including right violations and abuses have been occurring in mining communities across the country.
“Therefore, as journalists don’t be deterred when our governments are not ensuring that the right things are done in the extractive sector, but continue to play your advocacy role,” he urged.
“The fact of the matter is that these multinational mining companies are very powerful and can even unmake governments, therefore, it is important that civil society organisations (CSOs) in the mining sector collaborate more with the media to make positive noise on the issues associated with mining,” he said.
Delivering a presentation christened “Mining-Induced Displacement’s Impact On Children’s Education: Children Of School-Going Age In Newmont’s ‘Fenceline Communities’ In The Asutifi North District (AND), Ghana,” a Lecturer at the Geography Department of the University Education, Winneba (UEW), who carried out the study, said several communities within the area have been impacted by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL) operations.
The study, he said, sought to look at impact of Newmont’s resettlement exercise on the education of children of school-going age in fenceline communities in the AND.
He explained that “fenceline or left behind communities” are those communities around NGGL’s concession in the AND that were unable to relocate due to socio-economic factors.
The research investigated how school-going children in the fenceline communities commute to and from school, and also analysed challenges associated with the means of commuting to and from school.
According to Dr Asamoah, these fenceline communities are Dokyikrom, Kodiwohia, Kwakyekrom, Manushed, Yawusukrom, and Yarogrumah.
The rest are Amankonakrom, Oseiwusukrom, Tailorkrom, Ananekrom, Nsonyameye No. 1, Nsonyameye No. 2, and Akorekrom, he added.
He said the study said Newmont’s operations have resulted in the demolition of some public schools including a Local Authority (L/A) primary school established in 1991 with 58 pupils at Kwakyekrom; 3 other L/A schools – a kindergarten, a primary school (also established in 1984); and a junior secondary school (established in 2002) at Kodiwohia, with 190 pupils.
The report mentioned high school dropouts, low enrollment and attendance and poor academic performance as some of the challenges parents in the Fenceline communities were contending with.
The UEW lecturer said due to Newmont’s operations, the school children now trek long distances to their relocated schools.
The Deputy National Director – Operations, A Rocha Ghana, Mr Daryl Bossu, bemoaned that despite the existence of policy and legal frameworks for mining in forest reserves, Ghana was not doing enough to protect its forest reserves.
“There is a significant weakening of the previous guidelines posing grave threat to the future of Ghana’s forest reserves that all Ghanaians depend on.
“Rather than protecting and regulating for environmental protection, the new L.I. aims to promote and open up opportunities support for mining in all forest reserves in Ghana,” he averred.
He buttressed his point by focusing on two Legislative Instruments on mining in Ghana—Environmental Assessment Regulations, 1999 (LI 1652) and Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, 2022 (LI 2462).
He said while exploration and mining areas within the guidelines before November 2022 guidelines had limitations within production forest reserves, that of exploration in LI 2462 has no such limitations, hence having potential implications on biodiversity and ecosystem integrity.
“While the L.I’s procedures for minerals prospecting—currently banned in all forest reserves—are very strict, those for mining are not. Available evidence suggests that mining companies are going directly for full mining leases to access the reserves without initial prospecting,” Mr Bosu indicated.
In January, this year, for instance, Wacam organised a similar forum for the media where it shared its findings on a study it carried out on the Appiatse Explosion.