PAV Ansah GJA 2023 Journalist of the year Erastus Asare Donkor has made strong demands for THE Edelmetallum Mining company to be investigated for environmental crimes regarding the destruction of parts of the Asenayo Forest Reserve for gold mining activities.
Speaking in an interview with Kojo Marfo on AbusuaNkommo at Abusua965FM, Erastus questioned the legality of the large-scale mining operations in the reserve, alleging that the activities are “criminal” and violate Ghanaian laws.
“We heard that the government has given the Asenayo Forest Reserve in the Amansie South District to Simon Aidoo and Raynord Quadi’s company, Edelmetallum, for large-scale mining”
“However, their actions are criminal and go against our laws. They’ve destroyed the river that flows into River Ankobra and also cleared the some of the trees that protected the forest reserve, all without a plan for responsible mining.”
Assault
A disturbing incident of journalist intimidation and assault surfaced at the Asenayo Forest Reserve, where broadcast journalist Erastus Asare Donkor and his team were allegedly attacked and forced to compromise their reporting equipment.
According to Erastus, the team was instructed to surrender their phones and subsequently ordered to factory reset the devices by heavily armed men.
When Erastus questioned the motive behind this demand, citing important files stored on his phone, the situation escalated.
“The men, who were heavily armed, demanded we delete any photos taken at the site,” Erastus recounted.
“Although it wasn’t legally required, I agreed to cooperate, considering the circumstances. However, when I refused to format my phone, one of them slapped me twice on the back, and soon they began assaulting us.”
In a shocking turn of events, Erastus revealed that sharing his password with one of the assailants did not grant them access to his phone, thanks to its additional security features.
“I shared my password with one of them to unlock the phone but thankfully, my phone has an additional layer of security. This feature automatically locks the phone if someone attempts to unlock or format it without permission. When his unlocking attempt failed, they became enraged and started slapping us, he added.
According to Erastus, the attackers removed bags from their car, making off with five drone batteries, headsets, tablets, and a Joynews jacket.
Erastus Asare Donkor noted that the mining site is heavily fortified and guarded by heavily armed, muscular men.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/103.5FM/Kwadwo Owusu
