By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is satisfied with the operations of the newly commissioned Ada Songor Salt under the operations of Electrochem Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the McDan Group of Companies.
According to the Agency, the Salt Mining Company has complied with all the laid-down rules and regulations, including those that should be observed daily for safety purposes.
In an exclusive interview with the Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the operations of Electrochem, Henry Kwabena Kokofu commended McDan Group for complying with all rules as enshrined in Act 490 of 1994 and Environmental Protection Council Decree 1974 (NRCD 239), amended by the EPC (Amendment) Decree 1976 (SMCD 58).
According to him, “I can say emphatically that EPA has permitted this facility, and from the very inception, we have been with them; we deployed some experienced environmental inspectors to come along to do measurements, and all that environmental assessment has been done, and as we speak, environmental management plan has also been done, reviewed, approved, and the permit has been approved.”
He, however, stated that “because environmental issues are dynamic, we will continuously work to monitor operations to ensure we guide the production line as they go along”.
Mr. Kokofu used the occasion to praise McDan by describing the project as a wonderful and ambitious one, “take that, this is wholly Ghanaian company, where a lot of money has been pumped in-looking at the technology deployed here and the state-of-the-art equipment at work over here. This could have come into fruition if the President’s initiative of industrialisation with respect to One District One Factory had not been realized under”.
The Environmental Protection Agency is the leading public body for protecting and improving the environment in Ghana.
It’s their job to make sure that air, land, and water are looked after by everyone in today’s society so that tomorrow’s generations inherit a cleaner, healthier world. They have more than 40 years of history behind them. They have offices across Ghana working on and carrying out Government policy, inspecting and regulating businesses, and reacting when there is an emergency such as a pollution incident. A 13-member board of directors, appointed by the President of Ghana, supervises our operations.
However, the management of our day-to-day operations is directly under an Executive Director and three divisional heads (Deputy Executive Directors).