The Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission in the Eastern Region has been educating mining communities on mineral and surface rights to ensure that holders of both rights abide by the law. The engagement is on the theme: ‘Obligation of Mineral Right Holder on Land Ownership and Environmental Impact Mitigation: What Landowners and Lawful Occupiers Need to Know.’ Multiple communities in the Eastern Region are endowed with mineral resources, which can occasionally spark conflict between mineral and surface rights holders. The Minerals Commission organised one of these engagements in the Yilo Krobo municipality’s Bueryonye community, which drew together several community members from Yilo and Lower Manya Krobo municipalities, where quarry mining occurs. Mr. Desmon Boahen, the Eastern Regional Head of the Minerals Commission, told the Ghana News Agency on the sidelines of the event that every mineral identified in the country was entrusted to the president for protection on behalf of the citizens. He stated that when a mining organisation applied for mineral rights, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, through the Minerals Commission, granted the right to explore, extract, and sell the minerals. ‘Mineral rights are the ownership rights to minerals that are located beneath the surface of a property. Mineral rights are issued to mining companies upon application, who then have the right to extract the minerals from the land and sell them in the market,’ Mr. Boahen said. Regarding surface rights, he mentioned that the ownership of the land’s natural surface by title or lease for agricultural and construction purposes, and added, ‘Surface rights can also be sold.’ He said while Minerals and Mining Act of 2006 (Act 703) regulate surface rights, the Land Act of 2020 (Act 1036) regulate mineral rights. He also stated that when the mineral rights and surface rights belonged to distinct entities, the bearer of the surface right had the legal right to seek compensation for any disturbance or harm from the holder of the mineral rights. ‘The compensation must be agreed upon between the holder of the mineral right and the holder of the surface right, or determined by the High Court if the parties are unable to agree,’ he said. The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is expected to approve the application for mineral rights. But after the approval, Mr Felix Addo-Okyireh, the Eastern Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said permits must be issued to the mining rights holders prior to the commencement of operations. He explained that Section 2(i) and (12) of the EPA Act of 1994 (Act 490) and Part 1 of the EAR of 1999 (LI 1652) require the EPA to issue an Environmental Permit for all operations with an environmental impact. He said the procedures involved in granting permits, including the receipt of the completed ‘Form EA1,’ screening and field inspection by EPA officers, evaluation of all pertinent documents, and implementation of compliance enforcement and monitoring. ‘Protection of the environment and achieving public health and safety are collective efforts, and we must all come together to achieve them through responsible and sustainable mining,’ he added.
Source: Ghana News Agency
