Civil society calls on IFC to address outstanding social and environmental issues
13 March 2006
Following the approval of IFC financing for Newmont's Ahafo mine in Ghana, the Bank Information Center, Oxfam-America, FoodFirst Information Action Network, Earthworks, WACAM, and ABRANDH sent a letter to IFC repeating the call for urgent action to be taken on unresolved problems related to the social and environmental impacts of the mine.
In the weeks following the approval, civil society groups demanded the disclosure of key information, including:
• The terms of reference for the proposed independent monitoring mechanisms tracking environmental and social impacts, including resettlement
• A draft action plan on the land replacement modalities and a revised budget reflecting the full cost of implementing the action plan
• A draft plan on measures to be taken to ensure immediate and long-term food security
• All existing environmental data and reports, including results of kinetic tests on acid generation potential and details on planned precautionary measures, and a commitment to timely disclosure of all future environmental data and reports
• A water use analysis and action plan indicating the number of households whose access to surface and ground water has been affected by the project and planned measures to restore their access
• A timeline for the start of negotiations between Newmont and the communities directly affected by the damming of the river Subri regarding confirmed requests for relocation or compensation
• The portion of the loan agreement between IFC and Newmont Ghana (and any associated covenant) that pertains to implementation milestones, monitoring plans, and other impact mitigation measures.
As of mid-March, the IFC and Newmont had not yet provided a substantive response to the issues raised in the letter.