Months after raising serious issues with the mining of salt in the Keta Lagoon Ramsar site in a case filed at the Supreme Court, the people of Anlo are yet to receive a response from the state.
Gold News checks have shown that the state led by the Attorney General is still yet to file its responses despite the belief by the people of Anlo that the continuous salt mining in the Keta Lagoon by the two companies would only wreak havoc on the environment.
The Anlo Youth Council (AYC) in August 2017 dragged the Minerals Commission, Director of Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission and Water Resources Commission to court for licensing two companies Kensington Industries Limited and Seven Seas Salt Limited to exploit and mine salt in the Keta Lagoon without parliamentary approval.
The Council argued that the Article 268(1) of the 1992 Constitution mandated the State to ensure that Parliament ratifies such mining rights and concessions.
They argued that the State led by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources failed to do that when it granted the right to the two companies to mine salt in the Keta Lagoon.
Whiles Gold News checks have revealed that lawyers for the Council have filed all documents as at October 2017, the State which has licensed the salt mining in the lagoon is still yet to respond.
This is contrary to the Supreme Court rules which require that a response be filed 14 days after the plaintiff files its Statement of case and affidavits.
The AYC is unhappy with the turn of events because they expected the State to be interested in putting the people’s fears to rest especially because the area under concession is protected by Wetlands Management (Ramsar Sites) Regulations, 1999 (LI1659).
The people of Anlo are concerned with the nature of salt mining taking place in the lagoon because the substance is not naturally occurring in the water body.
This means the company would be pumping water from the lagoon into their facilities to be processed for salt, a situation which the people fear poses a threat to the survival of the lagoon and its habitat.
Gold News checks have shown that the state led by the Attorney General is still yet to file its responses despite the belief by the people of Anlo that the continuous salt mining in the Keta Lagoon by the two companies would only wreak havoc on the environment.
The Anlo Youth Council (AYC) in August 2017 dragged the Minerals Commission, Director of Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission and Water Resources Commission to court for licensing two companies Kensington Industries Limited and Seven Seas Salt Limited to exploit and mine salt in the Keta Lagoon without parliamentary approval.
The Council argued that the Article 268(1) of the 1992 Constitution mandated the State to ensure that Parliament ratifies such mining rights and concessions.
They argued that the State led by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources failed to do that when it granted the right to the two companies to mine salt in the Keta Lagoon.
Whiles Gold News checks have revealed that lawyers for the Council have filed all documents as at October 2017, the State which has licensed the salt mining in the lagoon is still yet to respond.
This is contrary to the Supreme Court rules which require that a response be filed 14 days after the plaintiff files its Statement of case and affidavits.
The AYC is unhappy with the turn of events because they expected the State to be interested in putting the people’s fears to rest especially because the area under concession is protected by Wetlands Management (Ramsar Sites) Regulations, 1999 (LI1659).
The people of Anlo are concerned with the nature of salt mining taking place in the lagoon because the substance is not naturally occurring in the water body.
This means the company would be pumping water from the lagoon into their facilities to be processed for salt, a situation which the people fear poses a threat to the survival of the lagoon and its habitat.
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