Don’t Start Mining Until Parliamentary Approval- Jinapor To Barari

The Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, Hon John Jinapor has warned Barari DV Limited, a company granted a lease to mine lithium in the 42.63 Km land in and around Ewoyaa in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region to stay put until Parliamentary approval.

He emphasized that the Company’s operation would be illegal if it carried on with extraction in the current form of the lease agreement.

The lease which is yet to receive Parliamentary scrutiny and approval was granted on October 19, 2023 and has since sparked controversies and concerns.

Addressing the press in Parliament on December 7, 2023, the Member of Parliament for Yapei-Kusawgu called for the immediate presentation of the lease to the House.

“As you may be aware, Article 268 of the 1992 Constitution is explicit and it states that any transaction including but not limited to the application for a licence to exploit a natural resource requires prior Parliamentary approval. On this note, I want to make it loud and clear and succinct and explicit that the agreement between the government of Ghana and Barari DV should be laid before Parliament without delay.”

Until then, he directed Barari to suspend plans to commence extraction.

“Any attempt to commence mining without Parliamentary approval will be illegal. I also want to caution officials of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as well as the Minerals Commission that they have no authorisation to allow Berari to commence mining of lithium without Parliamentary approval as well as other necessary approvals like the EPA.”

Concerns were raised about the seclusion of parliament in granting the lease to the company but addressing the public in a press conference earlier on Thursday, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor said Parliamentary approval forms part of the terms of the lease.

“The mining lease will be laid before Parliament for ratification. That is non-negotiable but before such agreements can be laid before Parliament, it must go through a number of processes including securing cabinet approval.”

According to him, the processes are ongoing for onward Parliamentary consideration and ratification.