No mining right granted for prospecting, mining in Kakum National Park… Minerals C’ssion CEO denies claim

The Minerals Commission says it has not granted prospecting or mining right in the Kakum National Park, in the Central Region.

“The Commission wishes to assure the public that no miner­al right whether for prospecting or mining shall be considered or granted in the Kakum National Park,” said a statement signed by Martin Kwaku Ayisi, Chief Execu­tive Officer of the Commission.

The news of High Street Lim­ited, a mining firm, purporting to apply for mining licence to mine in the Kakum National Park went vi­ral on social and traditional media.

Civil society groups against min­ing in forests, including A Rocha Ghana kicked against the attempt by High Street Limited to mine in the Kakum National Park.

But the Minerals Commission in allaying the fears of the public said it has rejected the application put in by High Street Limited.

“The Commission wishes to inform the CSOs and the public that the application by High Street Limited was rejected and therefore cannot be processed or considered whatsoever.”

Consequently, the Commission said it had deleted the application from the online mining cadastre.

The statement followed concerns by some civil society organisations (CSOs) in the country who have vehemently kicked against the attempt by a mining firm to mine in the Kakum National Park.

The company, High Street Gha­na Limited, applied to the Minerals Commission for a licence to mine in the Kakum National Park; a process which is currently at a validation stage.

The application by High Street Ghana Limited is among 14 appli­cations received by the Minerals Commission from firms to mine in some forest reserves across the country.

Speaking at a stakeholder engagement on the new Regula­tion on Mining in Ghana’s For­est Reserves (LI 2462) 2022 on November 9, Director of Nature and Development Foundation, Mu­stapha Seidu, warned that failure to scrap the Legislative Instrument (LI 2462) would lead to wanton destruction of the country’s forest.

“As we speak, there are 14 more applications under different stages of consideration by the Minerals Commission including an applica­tion by High Street Ghana Limited to mine in the Kakum National Park.

That application is under the validation stage and according to the concession map provided, it will cover about 24 per cent of the reserve. So in all, there are about 15 forest reserves that the licence will cover,” he stated.

 BY TIMES REPORTER