An aide to the Chief Executive of Engineers and Planners (E&P), Rafiq Mahama says the statement issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on attempts by Exton Cubic Group Limited to prospect in Nyinahin bauxite deposit is needless.
According to him, the company has been in talks with the EPA in a bid to acquire the necessary licenses that will allow it to mine at the site.
The EPA Wednesday issued a statement saying Exton Cubic Group did not have the requisite permit to either prospect or mine at the site in the wake of the confiscation of the equipment of the company on the orders of the Ashanti regional Minister.
“Failure of the company to comply with the above-stated conditions as at the time of the issuance of this press release has rendered all environmental permits null and void. Again, the EPA wishes to state that any mining activity to be conducted by the Exton Cubic Group Limited within the concession areas, of which Environmental Permit is being sought is not consistent with the Environmental Assessment Procedures of the EPA, LI1652 and is therefore illegal,” the statement indicated.
But the aide to Ibrahim Mahama, Rafiq Mahama says the claim that they do not have a prospecting license is untrue.
“They shouldn’t have even rushed to the media, it was completely avoidable because we are dealing with the EPA and it is official. We have sent letters to them,” he revealed.
He said the company has the permit to prospect and that the EPA was misled into thinking that Exton Cubic Group was mining.
“Per all the documents we have it’s clear that the company has the permit to do the prospecting so if you limit your statement to mining which the company is not doing it means that EPA was misled to even think that the company is doing mining,” he indicated.
He revealed that the EPA is yet to respond to their most recent request for permit to mine which was sent on July 18, 2017.
