Residents outside the envelop area of the operations site of the OCTEA mining company, formerly known as Koidu Holdings, say they are paying “a high human cost” for the operations of the company. They say the vibration of the explosion of rocks, or blasting, is creating a crack on their houses in addition to smashing their window panes.
Some told Politico that they have to use their meagre resources to always buy cement to patch the cracks on their houses and to replace their window glasses.
A clergyman of the United Methodist Church and a farmer in Kono told Politico that houses in far away Small Sefadu were affected by the tremor of the blast, adding that the explosion would always leave behind a massive dust that was contaminated for human consumption. Rev. Sylvester Dunbar said the smell of granite could be felt all over the place every time there was a blast.
He said that some water wells were running dry as a result of the deep mining activity of OCTEA mining company forcing residents to walk to faraway distances to fetch water.
The Economic Justice Programme of the Network Movement for Justice and Development, Patrick Tongu corroborated the allegations. He told Politico that the activities of the company were affecting the entire township of Koidu and even beyond, adding that it was a real problem and the company had to find a way of dealing with.
President of OCTEA Mining Company, Ibrahim Sorie Kamara said the situation was unfortunate and that they were unhappy about such ugly developments. He acknowledged that their activities were causing a lot of inconveniences for residents in the area and the entire township because they were operating almost in the city centre.
Kamara said they were doing everything they could to mitigate the impact of their blasts. He said that one such mitigating measure was to reduce the number of blasting to twice a week and to make adequate announcements to nearby communities of a pending blasting activity.
Kamara said that it was unfortunate that the only way they could carry out their operations was through the explosion of rocks. He said the company would send a fact-finding mission to ascertain the allegations and to find ways of addressing the situation if it turned out to be true.
Meanwhile, residents living within 500 metres of the operational area of OCTEA mining company, known as the "envelop area" are being relocated to a relatively safer place. However, a conducted tour in those relocation sites revealed that there are cracks on some houses in communities like Kania, Kania New Site, Sukudu, New Sembehun Road and Post Office Road among others in Koidu City. However, it was not clear whether they were caused by the blasting of rocks by the company.
© Politico 08/10/13
