Adaklu-Abuadi residents demand quarry shutdown - Say operations affecting lives, buildings, roads
The people of Adaklu-Abuadi in the Volta Region last week Friday embarked on a peaceful demonstration, calling for immediate halt to the activities of a group of Chinese operating a quarry in the community for more than a decade now.
They said the activities of the Chinese group, with no known name, had resulted in large scale havoc to the environment and posed health hazards to the people.
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The demonstrators, largely comprised young people, cited the destruction of buildings in the community as a result of the incessant explosion of dynamites by the Chinese, and said that was a serious violation of their human rights.
Fear among farmers
Further, they said farmers in the community were gripped with fear as a result of the straying pebbles falling from the blasted rocks, while the roofs of residents near the quarry site were often damaged by the falling rocks.
In a petition, the demonstrators — who identified themselves as Adaklu-Abuadi Youth — complained that the dust and noise from the quarry was polluting the environment and posing the threat of visual impairment and respiratory-related diseases to the people.
A spokesman for the Adaklu-Abuadi Youth, Raymond Akadi, said the activities of the Chinese was also adversely affecting farming activities, damaging the landscape, polluting water on the ground, and causing serious erosion.
Worse, he said, the ceaseless plying of heavy-duty trucks from the quarry around the clock had created dangerous holes in the community, leading to the deplorable nature of the road between Waya and Abuadi, and the stretch between Trsefe and Abuadi.
“The residents are now living in fear, not only as a result of the explosions from the quarry, but also from the hostile conduct of the Chinese who are said to be armed with guns for fear of possible attacks from the locals,” Mr Akadi added.
Nasty roads
He said drivers of commercial vehicles were no longer willing to render services between Abuadi and the regional capital, Ho, due to the bad surface of the road, and that it was affecting economic activities at Abuadi.
He sought to know the details of the impact and social assessment of the contract under which the Chinese were operating the quarry, as well as the details of their social corporate responsibility.
Mr Akadi demanded an explanation for why stones from the quarry were being used to construct other vital roads in the region, while the roads in Abuadi “remained in a horrible state”.
“The operations of the Chinese company have become a nuisance in the community, and we are appealing to the Paramount Chief of Adaklu, Togbe Gbogbi V, and the District Chief Executive to notify the contract awarding institution or individual to instruct the Chinese to halt their activities and vacate the site immediately,” he said.
Copies of the petition were presented to the assembly member, Hammond Etornam Anornu, and a representative of Togbe Gbogbi, Elder Enos Sidza.
When contacted, the DCE, Juliana Kpedekpo, explained that the petitioners had never engaged with the assembly over the matter.
She made no further comment.
Attempts by the Daily Graphic to contact the Chinese was not successful.