Parliament takes mining firms to task

Accra , March 23, GNA- Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, Member of Parliament (MP) for Manhyia, said mining firms that contaminate the environment with toxic chemicals must restore it to its original state and pay compensation to those affected.

Pollution he said sometimes took place even in the advanced countries but added that in such jurisdictions mining companies that spill the environment with noxious chemicals were made not only to compensate the people but restore the environment.

Mr Prempeh was commenting on a statement made on the floor of the House on cyanide spillage and its effects on the environment and on humans. Mrs Gifty Eugenia Kusi, Member for Tarkwa Nsuaem, made the statement to draw attention to the havoc of mining activities in her constituency. Dr Prempeh said noxious cyanide could affect a lot of communities through the flow of water.

He said the local people must be trained on how to identify the contamination of the environment and raise the alarm. Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi, MP for Techiman North, said the mercury levels of the mining companies must be checked to ensure that they did not go beyond the acceptable levels.

He said government should give environmental issues serious consideration by giving adequate budgetary allocations to agencies responsible for the sector. Making the statement, Mrs Kusi said the cyanide spillage in Yaakye, a tributary of the Subri river in the Asutifi District was as a result of the negligence of the Newmont Gold Ghana Limited. Making reference to a Ghana News Agency report, she said Newmont failed to effectively monitor the rate of cyanide overflow into their environmental control dam.

She said the spillage affected villages such as Adofoasa, Kontolrom, Yateabere, Kyeikrom, Bamfokwaakrom Akosua, Gyakakrom Bronikrom and Afua Sewaakrom. She said cyanide could affect the heart and the brain than other organs.

Mrs Kusi noted that cyanide could be absorbed through the skin, contaminated food and manifest through symptoms such as rapid breathing, restlessness, dizziness, headache, weakness, nausea and vomiting. She said the Chamber of Mines, Mineral Commission, Ministry of Environment and Science and Technology, should put before Parliament, a bill that she called "Polluter Pay Principles", instead of the existing codes of conduct, which she claimed were not making mining companies accountable for their activities. Mrs Kusi said although Newmont had paid some compensation to the affected communities, which could offer some comfort to the affected communities, the company must be made to allocate funds to restore the environment as well.