Minority supports calls for revocation of LI regulating mining in forest reserves

The Minority Caucus on the Lands and Forestry Committee of Parliament has supported calls for the revocation of the legislative instrument L.I 2462, which is designed to protect the country’s forest reserves.

A group of civil society organizations has petitioned Parliament and the President to revoke the L.I, arguing that since its passage a year ago, 8 mining leases have been issued for mining in the country’s forest reserves.

The group added that 15 mining lease applications to mine in the forest reserves are also at various stages of approval, which could undermine efforts in forest management and the fight against climate change.

The Ranking Member on the Lands and Forestry Committee, Dr. Rashid Pelpuo, insists that Parliament needs to be fully informed about the L.I.

“It has not been brought to Parliament, but it is necessary for it to be presented to Parliament. I have listened to the Minister and engaged with him directly, and he told me the details of where he wanted the thing to go. He has been able to negotiate up to 13 percent, and there is another 3 percent that can be added. At the end, we will have Ghanaians buy into the shares and become shareholders. It is all attractive to hear, but is that the best, and that is what we need to ascertain.

“So what we are saying is that the Minister should bring the matter directly to Parliament for us to take a closer look at the agreement. We need to see what we can do to support the agreement by ensuring that our inputs find space in the agreement. This will give it the colour and quality that we want so that we don’t regret it later.”

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