A report by Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) on oil and gas exploration by the GNPC, in 3 districts in the Volta Basin has revealed that the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), was not followed.
The Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) principle allows people to give or withhold consent to projects that may affect their livelihood.
The principle has been ratified by Ghana to say before mining or oil and gas exploration takes place, the project community to be impacted must first be informed and their consent granted before such an activity can proceed. It also prescribed an adequate compensation for affected communities or lives.
But the study carried out by WACAM showed that people were not adequately compensated for crops and other properties destroyed as a result of the exploration activities.
Speaking at a forum in Accra to outdoor and discuss the report, Co-Executive Director of WACAM, Hannah Owusu-Koranteng, cautioned that if care is not taken, the destructive impact of mining on communities where such mining activities have been carried out in the past, would befall those in the Volta Basin.
She therefore supported the call of the residents to the government to respect the FPIC principle in engaging with them.
Mrs. Owusu-Koranteng, said engagements with the agents of GNPC and the affected communities, such as Atebubu-Amantin, Nkoranza South and Nkoranza North in the Bono Region where there is an ongoing on-shore oil exploration does not meet the minimum standards of the Free Prior and Informed Consent principle.
The Dean, School for Development Studies, University of Cape Coast, Dr. Emmanuel Tenkorang and a Lecturer at the Geography Department, also of the same University, Dr. Yaw Asamoah, who carried out the research, said the manner in which the compensation was determined without negotiation with the affected farmers was not fair.
WACAM therefore called on government to as a matter of urgency ensure that the right principle is followed to avert future repercussions as well as help the affected communities survive.
