Bonte Gold Mines Ltd is a subsidiary of a Canadian Company called Akrokeri-Ashanti Gold inc. It operated along the Bonte River at Bonteso in the Ashanti Region as a mineral prospecting company and was liquidated by an order of the High Court in 2004.
The company’s activities during its operations resulted in environmental degradation and lost of crops and other properties of the residents of Bonteso. It also failed to reclaim the land after its liquidation.
CEPIL instituted this suit in Accra High Court for the following reasons:
- For failing to carry its activities in a proper manner which resulted in environmental degradation such as clearing of vegetation, stock piling of large quantities of heaps of sand, gravel and stones
- Failing to reclaim or rehabilitate destroyed as a result of its operations.
- Failing to post a reclamation bond as a security deposit against any default of reclamationd.
The company’s refusal to comply with statutory obligations to rehabilitate the environment upon completion of its operations Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Minerals Commission were also joined in the suit for failing to fulfill their statutory duty by ensuring that the company carried out its activities in an environmental friendly manner or rehabilitate the damaged environment.
