In a bid to secure their livelihood, some farmers in Krampakrom, one of two communities in Mankessim set to be resettled after the discovery of large quantities of lithium, are urging the resettlement and compensation committee to include land space for farming in their plans.
With the majority of the community being farmers, they face an uncertain future without land to farm if only accommodation is provided. Krampakrom, along with Ewoyaa, will be completely resettled due to the lithium discovery.
Many residents depend heavily on farming for their survival. However, the discovery of lithium has forced farmers in the area to relocate to make way for mining activities.
While Krampakrom and Ewoyaa are being fully resettled, other communities will receive compensation packages to vacate their land for lithium mining. Farmers in Krampakrom have highlighted the need for farming space in the resettlement plans, expressing concerns that the committee might focus solely on housing.
Emmanuel Nkrumah, the 2021 Municipal Best Farmer for Mankessim and a resident of Krampakrom, fears that without changes to the resettlement packages, his dream of winning the Regional Best Farmer award may be jeopardised.
“I am the 2021 Municipal Best Farmer for Mfantsiman and the current circumstances where I find myself will make it difficult for me to win the Regional Best Farmer because the conditions where they are putting us will make it difficult for me to win the Regional Best Farmer. The major challenge had been how the company could give us a good place to also farm as farmers since the accommodation alone cannot determine our future. We want them to make arrangements in terms of giving us a space for farming aside from the relocation they are giving us,” Emmanuel Nkrumah Municipal Best Farmer spoke to Citi News.
“We don’t want a situation where we will go and occupy the resentment facility without excess land to farm. The people in this community are mostly farmers and we don’t have any other job we do apart from farming. They must ensure that they factor in this,” the Municipal Best Farmer said.
Some community members have urged the lithium company to ensure they are provided with farming land in addition to accommodation, as they expressed their concerns to Citi News.
“My parents have been doing farming for years and this is what they have been using in taking care of us. Now that they want to relocate us, they must ensure that we have farmlands to farm apart from the accommodations. Currently, we have been made to understand that we are not supposed to plant any crop until the arrangements are settled and this is worrying because we now have to depend on other means of survival.
“It will be very bad after waiting for many years and then we go to our resettlements community only to find out that we don’t have a place to farm as farmers,” Grace Abudu, a daughter of a farmer lamented.
Traditional authorities in Krampakrom lament the efforts they have made to ensure their demands are met, calling on authorities to take necessary action.
Friends of the Nation, a non-governmental organisation has taken the initiative to educate residents on their rights and entitlements after relocation.
They explained that the repercussions of not having jobs after addressing accommodation issues could lead to the community losing its social structure, highlighting the need for proper job allocation.
“We are here in the community of Krampakrom to talk to the community members. This is one of the communities to be resettled apart from Ewoyaa. We want them to understand the content of the environmental impact statement and what measures have been put in place for them. Issues of compensation and resettlements are key in the discussions.
“The people must be resettled on suitable land that must not take away their rights to access clean water, and land, among others and their status must not change. Mankessim, we must ensure that compensations and resettlements are better to serve as a model so that upcoming communities that are yet to be resettled learn from them.”
“There are a lot of lessons we can learn from elsewhere like Tarkwa, Obuasi and elsewhere where similar compensation and resettlements have taken place. As an organisation, we have been throwing light on engaging communities on the rights in extractive governance and we have taken community leaders to learn how to better negotiate on compensation packages and resettlements and how women and children are critical in these negotiations,” Solomon Kusi Ampofo, Project Coordinator for Friends of the Nation said.
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