Western Goldfields Limited, a defunct gold mining company in Takoradi of the Western Region has urged government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to set up a committee of enquiry to investigate the commercial activities of all the mining companies which are currently operating in the country's forest reserves, stating that “they are operating illegally."

“We are therefore calling for thorough investigation into this matter and all the thirty (30) mining companies working in the forest reserves before the moratorium on the mining activities in forest reserves in March 1996,” the company made the call in a letter to the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mrs. Barbara Oteng-Gyasi.

The five-page letter dated January 4, 2018 and signed by Managing Director of Western Goldfields Limited, Mr. Ralph Ananga was copied to President Akufo-Addo, Chief of Staff at Flagstaff House, Chief Executive of Minerals Commission and Executive Director of Forestry Commission Service Department.

The letter further stressed the need for Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. John Peter Amewu to instruct all the thirty mining companies operating in the forest reserves to produce their forest access permits from the Chief Conservator of Forest Commission.

The letter pointed out that “these mining companies granted permits to undertake surface mining in the forest reserves as stated by former Technical Director in-charge of Mining at the Ministry of Lands and Resources, Mr. Simon Atebiya as stated by the investigation conducted by Today are Goldfields Ghana Limited, Preseus Mining Company at Wasa Akropong and Anglo Gold Ashanti.

According to the letter, all these mining companies were not operating in the forest reserves before the moratorium in March 1996 and not in 1992 as claimed by Mr. Atebiya.

“The ban or moratorium was in March 1996 and not 1992.None of these mining companies were operating in any reserve in Ghana before the ban in March 1992. It is for this reasons that Mr. Atebiya, backdated it to the year 1992, so as to legitimate their operations. This is to say they were operating in the forest reserves before the ban in March 1996,” the letter noted.

According to the letter, the claimed by Mr.Atebiya that in 1992, thirty (30) mining companies applied for environmental permit licenses to mine in the forest reserves and that government trimmed the number to seventeen (17) is "completely false."

The letter punched a big hole into the statement by Mr. Atebiya that government has wanted to revoke the licenses of these mining companies but because of the legal tussles and judgement payment, government could not afford.

According to the letter, this was untrue because the new 30 applicants of the mining companies were not granted permit to work in the reserves, thus no issue of judgment debt and legal tussles against the government since "they were there illegally."

The letter further argued that the claims by "Mr. Simon Atebiya that there is no " clear cut law or legal instrument that supports mining in forest reserves was also not true.