Some residents of Effutu in the Central region have taken to the streets to protest claims of the prospective sale of the Ramsar site in Winneba to mining companies.
Concerned villagers dressed in red say the investor is being granted the same location where they kill deer for the annual Aboakyire celebration.
They also stated that selling the site will most certainly put the Aboakyire festival on hold.
The protest comes months after the finding of substantial quantities of lithium in Effutu and other regions of the Central Region was brought before Parliament.
Residents threatened to block the mining company’s activities, claiming that the exploration would destroy a reserve that had been there for numerous years.
In an interview with journalists, one of the demonstrators, Solomon, stated, “We heard that the land that we use to celebrate our festival is being sold, but that land is where we used for our festival and where our fetish priest is as well.”
“We have heard that they have discovered some diamonds and gold on that land,” he continued. If they touch that land, they would ruin our properties, hence the young of Winneba have determined not to let them touch it.”
Another demonstrator stated that the mining chemicals will “impact the sea and ruin our fish…If the land was like that, we wouldn’t come to meet it.”
