RESIDENTS of Bonyere in the Jomoro District in the Western Region have mobilised to resist the siting of a gas plant in the area for the production of gas from the Jubilee Oil Fields.
The youth, who claim they have not been consulted over the location of the project, also expressed concern that the siting of the gas plant in the town would lead to the destruction of economic trees on their farmlands and subsequently the loss of their livelihood.
It took the intervention of the Western Regional Police Commander, DCOP Alhaji Hamidu Mohammed, to restrain the youth.
They accused officials of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the Volta River Authority (VRA), who are undertaking the project, to have started surveying the land for the gas plant without consultation with the generality of the people, sparking the agitation against the project.
To weather the storm, the regional commander engaged the two parties at a meeting at which officials of the GNPC and the VRA agreed to engage the people and brief them about the essence and prospects of the gas project, while the youth also accepted to “lay down their arms”.
Addressing members of the National Peace Council (NPC) at Elmina in the Central Region, DCOP Hamidu stressed the need to promote peace among stakeholders in the extractive industry.
The encounter was sponsored by the UNDP and attended by some members of the NPC, including Oseadeeyo Akumfi Ameyaw IV, the Omanhene of Techiman Traditional Area; Bishop Francis Lodonu, the Catholic Archbishop of Ho; Mrs Georgina Baiden, a retired educationist; Professor Irene Odotei, a former Director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana; Sheikh Mahmoud Gedel, a representative of the Chief Imam, and Professor Kofi Agyekum, a senior lecturer at the Linguistics Department, University of Ghana.
DCOP Alhaji Hamidu acknowledged that the production of oil in the Western Region would pose some security challenges but stressed the need for all parties to work towards ensuring peace.
He expressed concern about the involvement of people in authority, including politicians and chiefs, in the galamsey business, saying such attitude made the fight against illegal mining very difficult.
A resource person and former Chief Director of the Ministry of the Interior, Mr Edwin Barnes, stressed the need for collaboration between police and immigration officers to monitor and bring to justice foreigners who did not use their work permits for purposes for which they were granted.
Another resource person and senior lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Dr Kumi Ansa-Koi, observed that there were serious shortcomings in the regulatory framework for the mining sector, pointing out that the discovery of oil could worsen the already bad situation.
He, therefore, stressed the need for the nation to learn from history and manage the oil sector very carefully in order to avoid the pitfalls in the mining sector and in other oil economies across the world.
In a contribution, an official of WACAM, an environmental and human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in mining communities, Mrs Hannah Koranteng, said there were serious environmental concerns in oil production that needed to be addressed.
She recalled that within two weeks in August, this year, four dead whales were washed ashore at Jomoro, a situation she described as very serious because it was rare to even find one dead whale being washed ashore in a year.
The Research Officer of the NPC, Mr Emmanuel Sowatey, said the workshop formed part of initiatives by the NPC to promote and facilitate a dialogue process between mining companies and their host communities with a view to ensuring lasting peace.
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