Ewereko (W/R), June 02, GNA – The Pekinpat Company Limited, a prospecting licensing company, has halted its illegal mining (galamsey) activities at Ewereko in the northern part of Aiyinasi in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
This followed an intervention by Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle, who petitioned the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) to investigate the matter as the livelihoods of cocoa farmers were being threatened because of the company’s activities.
The Assemblyman for the Kwesikrom/Ewereko Electoral Area, who gave his name as Mr Shehu, confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and said the Company left the site a month ago.
It would be recalled that the Pekinpat Mining Company went into the Ewereko cocoa farming community with excavators to engage in illegal mining some few months ago.
Mr Armah Kofi Buah visited the site and expressed concern over its activities and called on the company to stop mining, leading to his petition to CHRAJ over the matter.
He also paid a courtesy call to the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, and reported the galamsey activities ongoing at Ewereko.
Mr Buah, a former Minister of Petroleum and Energy, indicated that the development at Ewereko was a threat to the land, water, and food security.
He noted that a group of young men involved in the wanton destruction of land in the cocoa growing area through “galamsey”, claimed they were working upon instruction by Pekinpat.
He said Ewereko was the only remaining breadbasket of the district and could not allow people with selfish interests to threaten the livelihoods of the residents.
Mr Jinapor, for his part, commended the MP for showing leadership to salvage the situation while promising to take urgent steps to address the concerns raised.