Suspend activities of Seven Seas Company – Ketu South residents to Gov’t

Residents of Ketu South have called on the government to suspend activities of the Seven Seas Company following the death of six people.

The angry residents hit the streets of Ketu South today (Tuesday, 27th September 2022) to register their displeasure against the Indian Salt Mining Company, located at Adina in the Volta Region.

According to the residents, the company has allegedly extended its unsafe operations beyond the approved permit, thus Ketu South.

Therefore, they want the government to regulate the company’s activities, which caused the death of a middle-aged woman and three children on Saturday, 17th September 2022.

The 41-year-old woman, Yawa Afenu, her two children, and another child staying with the family died in a dyke on the Keta Lagoon in Laklevikope in the Ketu South Municipality, allegedly belonging to Seven Seas Salt Ltd.

The family, comprising the father, mother and three children, went fishing in the lagoon on Saturday morning. One of the children fell into the pit, and in an attempt to save the child, the entire family fell into the hole too.

However, the father of the children, Atitso Amewu, managed to swim to safety.

One of the leaders of the demonstrators, Tanko Akussah, blamed chiefs and opinion leaders for conniving with the company to operate beyond the approved areas.

“This is long overdue. We believe the Seven Seas Company is licensed to operate only in the Adina community. They don’t have the license to move to other electoral areas in the region. We have written to the EPA, and Minerals Commission seeking clarification on their license status.

“They wrote back, telling us that they have not licensed them to operate in those areas. They were only licensed to operate in the Adina area. So, what we believe is that because the people came to Adina and realised that there are other work lands available, they started collaborating with indigenous people, including Chiefs, Opinion leaders and they have given these lands to them without the government’s approval.

“We have evidence of Chiefs collaborating with these people. We believe we are in a country where the law works so the government should first of all halt the activities of this company before we can begin to talk about the deaths that have occurred and the compensation due them. If the government fails to do that, it means the government is promoting illegality,” he said in a Joynews interview monitored by theghanareport.com.

They held placards with the inscriptions such as “The Indians Must Go, We are shocked our leaders are supporting an Indian over we the citizens, The Indian Man is killing us – Mie Kukum”.

After the protest, they submitted a petition to President Nana Akufo-Addo through the Municipal Assembly.