By Jones Anlimah
The Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency have confirmed the legality of the operations of Seven Sea Salt Company Limited, operating along the Keta Lagoon in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta region.
The two regulatory bodies also confirmed as legal a new concession being obtained by the company for its operations. This comes in the wake of calls by residents of operational area Communities for the closure of the company following a recent drowning to death of four members of a family.
The confirmation was made during a fact-finding visit by the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa to the company.
Residents in some parts of the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region recently demonstrated against the operations of a Salt Mining Company, Seven Seas Salt Company Limited along the Keta Lagoon.
This was a result of the death of a mother and her three children in dykes believed to have been dug by the company in the lagoon at Laklevikope. The death incident occurred when the victims went fishing in the Lagoon. In July this year, two other individuals also lost their lives in separate incidents in a similar fashion in the Lagoon.
The latest indent resulted in a situation where residents called the legality of the operations and more especially its decision to expand its operations to other parts of the Lagoon into question during their demonstration. Authorities, therefore, had to fall on the various regulatory bodies including the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency to ascertain the veracity of the claims made by the Community members.
The fact-finding tour by the Volta Regional Minister Dr. Archibald Letsa, who was accompanied by officials of the two regulatory bodies was to enable the two parties, especially the Community members to understand that the government and for that matter, the Volta Regional Coordinating Council was aware of the incident and to find a lasting solution to such occurrences.
The Volta Regional Minister and his entourage first held a meeting with some Assembly members who were part of the demonstrators who called for the closure of the company.
At a joint meeting between personnel of the Company and some Assembly Members at the Company’s premises, some of the Assembly Members questioned the operations of the company with emphasis on its new concessions.
The Public Relations Officer of Seven Seas Salt limited, Mr. Adams Mensah, denied the company’s ownership of the dykes in which the deaths occurred and said though the Company had constructed dykes, the said dykes, where the deaths occurred, were outside the Company’s concessions and might have been created by individuals as a fish pond.
Officials of the two regulatory bodies namely the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency both confirmed the legality of the operations of the company and its decision to operate on new concessions.
The Volta Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, Mr. Hope Smith Lomotey, said even though the company has given the permission for residents to enter its concession to undertake some livelihood activities, it behoves on the residents to take precautionary and safety measures to avoid such unfortunate incidents. He noted that the area has more investment potential that will soon be brought on board.
“The Seven Seas Salt company limited has EPA permit for the Adina concession and they have also conducted Environmental Impact Studies, submitted Environmental Impact Statement and they are going through the process to finally get the permit for their expansion at Adafienu. What they are doing here is legal and will also boost the local economy. It’s a concession and concessions mean a restricted area. So the appeal to the community members is that despite the company is liberal and has given them that opportunity to do fishing in the concession, they should do it and do it well and with caution.” He noted
The Volta Regional Minister Dr. Archibald Letsa, appealed to the Community members to keep calm and channel all their grievances to the regulatory authorities for the necessary actions. He also called for more community enagagement on the side of the company to bridge a communication gap that was identified in the course of deliberations.
“If there are issues in the community instead of going to radio stations to make all kinds of allegations to incite the public against a company that is operating legally and making a revenue for our country and employing our people, we have to be a bit cautious when we are dealing with issues like that……., We have to engage the community continuously to make sure that everybody is abreast with what is going on. Much as we are anxious to have investors in our region, we will also not allow them to break our laws. So I can assure the people of Ketu South that they don’t have any cause to worry, we are in charge and we will continue to monitor the company for mutual benefits”
The latest incident brings the number of deaths recorded in the lagoon to about six this year alone.
