Be transparent and fair with released concession, Mineworkers urge Government

Accra, May 3, GNA - Recent Anglogold Ashanti's (AGA) concession released to the State, must be a catalyst for revamping the economies of local communities, the Ghana Mineworkers' Union (GMWU), has said.

Anglogold Ashanti on the 9th of March, 2016, in a statement confirmed the release of 60 per cent of its concession to the Government Ghana.

The statement signed by Mr Prince William Ankrah, General Secretary of the GMWU, advised the government to be firm, fair and transparent, as it prepares to invite investors, especially, small-scale miners to develop the concession released by AGA.

It said the Union has long desired that the mining industry should serve as a catalyst for sustainable development in mining-rich communities.

The statement said the success stories of Johannesburg in South Africa and California in the USA where mining had permeated their development agendas were good examples that could be studied.

'The Union believes that, the ultimate goal of attracting potential investors into the concession is to ensure a beehive of economic activities for sustained growth in the beneficiary communities,' it said.

The statement also called on the government to guard against the temptation of giving out the concession based on political affiliations.

It said: 'We should bear in mind that any partisan consideration in awarding the concession will not serve the national good.'

The statement, therefore, appealed to government to constitute a team of experts to advise them on the best way to utilize the released concession.

It also proposed the institutionalization of an integrated development plan for the management of mining concession to boost the local economy of mining towns in a sustainable manner.

Priority, the statement said, should be given to building the capacities of small-scale miners so that they could become captains of the mining industry.

'The sad state of affairs of infrastructural deficit, like poor road network, poor township layout and lack of sustained economic activities which have become the lot of the mining towns should give way to a new dawn of development with vibrant economy,' the statement said.

Another area, the Union called for immediate action, was for government to keep all mining concessions off limit to illegal miners (galamseyers).

The statement said the galamsey situation kept worsening by the day and there is the need to confront it head on, so that it does not undermine investor confidence and the continuous Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into mining sector.

Again it urged government agencies tasked with maintaining security around mining concessions to be ruthless in dealing with people who engaged in illegal mining activities.

'Let us avoid the sad situation where we look on hopelessly for mining concessions to be destroyed with impunity with the local communities and Ghana in general as the ultimate losers,' the statement said.

'The threat to the life of our cherished miners at the concessions cannot be sacrificed on the altar of any greedy individual who do not care about Ghana's economic development.

'The catastrophic effect on the environment, especially the pollution of water bodies, destruction of forest reserves including farm lands and in face of the threat posed by climate change are not issues that should be taken for granted,' it said.

The statement said the time has come for leaders of political parties to be seen condemning in no uncertain terms, the wanton destruction being caused by illegal mining activities.

'Let us all bear in mind that our collective failure to adequately protect all mining concessions will be a recipe for an unquantifiable disaster in Ghana's mining industry,' it said.

GNA