B/A makes strides in exploiting natural resources... As Veep commissions biggest quarry plant in W/Africa at Wenchi
The Brong-Ahafo Region is indeed blessed with lots of natural resources such as gold, timber, clay, quarrying materials and large tracts of fertile farmlands.
All this blessings cannot be harnessed effectively without investments, both local and foreign, but fortunately the region is rapidly attracting the attention of investors to help exploit its natural resources for development.
The region can boast of having one of the world's leading mining companies.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, the Vice President His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, commissioned, arguably the biggest quarry in West Africa, with a capacity to deliver quality quarry products for the next fifty years at Papaso, located along the Sunyani-Wenchi road, called JA Quarry.
JA Quarry Plant was established in the year 2007, under the Company's Act, with a vision to be at the forefront of Ghana's construction industry, by introducing modern technology and superior methods of quarry extraction.
The quarry plant has for now recruited a hundred people, which, according to the Acting General Manager, Mr. Moses Kuwornu, figure would be doubled in the next few months as business expands.
According Mr. Kuwornu, JA Quarry has a large holding of equipment needed for quarry extraction, including bulldozers, excavators and dumper and tipper trucks to facilitate its operations.
He said the quarry plant was focused on delivering quality products, by employing superior and state of the art technology that respect the environment, whilst customer satisfaction is the hallmark, as it strives to continuously improve operations to make it efficient and effective to deliver on its promise.
Mr. Kuwornu disclosed that the initial focus of JA Quarry was on the Bui Hydro-electric Project requirement, but it has expanded to include other civil construction projects in the growth phase.
Vice President John Mahama commended the management for investing in the quarry business to support road construction and the building industry in general in the Brong-Ahafo Region, and the three Northern regions.
The Vice President noted that many road projects in the three Northern regions had been delayed because of the difficulty encountered by contractors in the supply of chippings, and expressed the happiness that the quarry would relieve them of the problem.
He said it was the policy of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to support private businesses which add value to the country's natural resource materials needed for road construction and the building industry, and provide employment to people in rural areas, therefore the government would take a critical look at the problems confronting the quarry industry in the country, and assist in finding solutions to them.
Mr. John Mahama noted that quarrying was capital intensive, and the survival of the company would depend on efficient management, including an effective maintenance culture, while urging the management to adopt best practices to stay in business for a long time.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Collins Dauda, mentioned some of the benefits the quarry would provide, such as employment for the youth and other amenities for the communities in which it operates, and to serve as a springboard for the development of other economic activities locally.
He however reiterated that the Ministry was mindful of the legitimate concerns of the surrounding communities, of the potential impacts usually associated with quarry operations such as blasting, vibrations, noise, flying rocks, and dust among others.
According to Alhaji Collins Dauda, these impacts, if not properly mitigated, could result to cracks to buildings and lung diseases, through the inhalation of dust, but added that those potential impacts could be mitigated through the effective enforcement of the health and safety provisions in the Mining, Explosives and Environmental Regulations, and the observance of proper mining practices.
He gave the assurance that the regulatory and monitoring agencies under the ministry, would be made to enforce the relevant regulations effectively, for quarry operations to be carried out with the observance of best mining practices, so as to protect life and property, and also with due regard to the environment.