Newmont Akyem Project Violates the Rights of Farmers with Impunity

Accra, May 22, GNA - Participants at a Human Rights Workshop held in

Koforidua have accused Newmont Gold Ghana Limited (NGGL) Akyem Project of

violating their economic; social; political; environmental and cultural rights with impunity. A communiqu=E9s issued at the end of the workshop said Newmont in collaboration with the local Police has been harassing and detaining farm ers as a means of intimidating them to acquiesce to the establishment of the Project on their land.

The workshop, under the theme; "Human Rights Violations and the Probl ems Associated with Newmont Akyem Project"; was organised by WACAM, a human rights and mining advocacy nongovernmental organization, with the support of Oxfam America. The participants were farmers drawn from Hweakwae; Yayaso; Adausena, Ntronang and Mamanso, all communities to be affected by the operations of

Newmont Akyem Project in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The communiqu=E9 said mining in the Ajenua-Bepo Forest Reserve would

destroy agriculture, which is the source of their livelihood and the livelihood of their children and all generations that would come after th em. It said; "Newmont officials have entered our farms and destroyed our crops without negotiating compensation with affected farmers" including M r Kofi Anokye of Hweakwae, whose oil palm and cocoa farms were destroyed an d Mr Bismark Asiedu of Adausena, who had his cocoa farm ravaged.

Mr Adam Iddrisu had his teak; maize; cassava and pineapple farms destroyed and when he complained, Newmont Community Agents verbally assaulted him, disparaging his ethnic background. The communiqu=E9 said Newmont Community Agents and Security Guards ha ve been preventing farmers from engaging in their normal farming activities even though the Company had not entered into negotiation with them contra ry to Section 13 (9) of the Minerals and Mining Act 2006.

The participants said: "Newmont has set up a Compensation Negotiatio n Committee (CNC), which determines compensation for all farmers. "We are opposed to the CNC because the members do not have a legal mandate to represent all the affected farmers. Section 74 (3) of the Minerals and Mining Act states that the amount of compensation payable should be by agreement between the two parties, meaning that individual farmers that would be affected by the operations of Newmont and Newmont should negotiate." The communiqu=E9, therefore, called on the Government to revoke the m ining lease it granted Newmont in January 2010 to destroy the Ajenua-Bepo Fores t Reserve. 22 May 10