The Chief Executive of AC Zenon Limited, Hajia Amina Tahiru, has vehemently debunked claims that her company is allegedly involved in illegal mining activities.
According to her, the allegations made by Nana Boadi Amponim Obodade III, Kontinhene of Asuom in the Kwaebibirim Municipality of the Eastern region, were untrue since her company does not engage in galamsey.
The traditional ruler had earlier noted that the activities of AC Zenon posed a huge challenge to the environment and the water bodies in the community.
He said Hajia Tahira was in bed with the minister for lands and natural resources, Abu Jinapor, and that gives her the confidence to continue galamsey even when the operators have been asked to desist from the act.
But on September 20, 2024, Hajia Tahiru took journalists to the site, where officers of the Minerals Commission in Koforidua were present.
She confirmed that the mining lease issued to the company to undertake operations in 2022 were legitimate and refuted Kontinhene’s allegations.
“I hold in my hands my mining lease; it is not even a prospecting licence, a mining lease I have with all my other documents that support me to do mining. This is the site where we are currently standing. You can see behind me a settling pond that we have created.
“This pond alone took up to three months to complete. The pond took about three months to complete, and we are not drawing water directly from the stream. The stream is about 200 meters away from where we are currently. We are recycling all our water,” she was quoted by citinewsroom.com to have said.
She also added that the Kontinhene is bitter because her company refused some demands he made.
“I don’t even have a single cocoa around me here, and all the lands that have been mined were compensated, duly compensated with a proper agreement given to the farmers; they signed, we signed, and we took over the land, and we even gave them a duration and gave it back to them.”
“I am one of the vocal persons who is totally against illegal mining in this country. I have talked about it. I have gone to the extent that I took it upon myself to go to some of my colleagues’ sites to advise them as to how to do their work properly,” she said.
However, she lamented the effects of the activities of illegal miners on the environment.
“Illegal mining doesn’t just affect the water bodies and the environment; it also affects some of us who have legitimate licenses. Like today I have my concession; illegal miners have invaded the whole area, some part of the concession, and it is a daunting task for me to be able to get rid of them,” she stated.
SSD/OGB
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