The Centre for Transparency Advocacy has called for contract transparency using the Community Development Agreements (CDA) to promote the cultural values and environmental rights of the Original Inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The organisation said a study it commissioned in January this year showed that some of the important sites of the original inhabitants (OIs) have been destroyed by mining, especially quarrying.
The centre also noted that some of the important sites of the OIs have been destroyed by infrastructural development activities such as in Kubwa, a suburb in the FCT where their grave sites have been converted to an ultra-modern market now called Maitama market.
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Executive Director, Centre for Transparency Advocacy, Faith Nwadishi said this during a Town Hall meeting on Community Development Agreements (CDA) and validation of the report on the scoping study on the impact of mining on the original inhabitants of the FCT.
Nwadishi noted that issues of responsible mining and community beneficiation from Community Development Agreements have remained a challenge and sometimes tussle between communities and mining companies in the FCT.
According to her, the damaging effects of mining, especially quarrying by some companies, have left communities devastated, means of livelihood destroyed, cultural sites desecrated, and the people dejected.