Civil society calls for IFC Board to review Ahafo Gold Mine Project
12 July 2006
In a letter to the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Board of Directors, a group of Ghanaian and international civil society organizations including the Bank Information Center requested a review of the Ahafo Gold Mine Project before it signs a loan of $125 million to the mining company Newmont. The issues raised by these organizations prior to the loan approval in January have still not been addressed, and after the loan disbursement the IFC will lack the leverage to ensure that Newmont effectively address the outstanding environmental and social impacts relating to the project.
The letter calls specific attention to unsatisfactory arrangements for the project’s land replacement and livelihood restoration schemes for affected communities and their negative impacts on food security in these predominantly agrarian areas. It also outlines major concerns regarding the external monitoring mechanism, which was designed by IFC and Newmont without public consultation and failed to adequately cover environmental monitoring issues.