Ghana President Akufo-Addo assures bauxite mining in Atewa forest won’t affect environment

Ghana’s president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assured that the government’s plan to mine bauxite in the Atewa forest, the country’s largest natural rainforest, would not harm the environment.  He said this during the Sustainable Ocean Industries Conference in Ghana. 

He said that the latest mining technology applied by the bauxite miners will reduce the impact of mining operations on the surrounding environment and on the people whose livelihood depends on the forest resources.

He added that the government is committed to bauxite mining keeping in mind the best interests of the people. He added that he was satisfied with the information and demonstration he had received about mining without disturbing wildlife in the forest.

“Beginning now, the full scale exploitation of Ghanaian bauxite resources [will commence]. We are in a better place, technology-wise than we would have been 20, 30 years ago [to do this]…I am satisfied by what I have been told and what has been demonstrated to me that, it is possible for us to get that red matter out without disturbing the wildlife that there is in the Atewa mountains,” the President said.

He added that no corruption has been involved in the assessment process of the environmental impact of bauxite mining in the region.

President Akufo-Addo, who is a UN Sustainable Development Goals champion and his government, has been criticised over the decision to mine bauxite in the forest in exchange of a US$2 billion Chinese infrastructure deal.

Environmental activists and concerned groups including A ROCHA Ghana have questioned the president’s commitment to protecting the country’s forest resources in the Atewa forest areas.

Other organizations such as the Christian Council of Ghana and the United States Forestry Service (USFS) have urged the government to be cautious about the process for possible contamination of water sources of some five million Ghanaians.  The Christian Council suggested that the forest could be turned into a National Park as an alternative to mining. However, the government had decided on going ahead with bauxite mining for the overall development of Ghana.