Newmont pledges to live up to its social responsibility

February 10, 2010
Kenyase (B/A), Feb 10, GNA - Newmont Ahafo Mine, a gold mining company, has pledged to live up to its social responsibility to the chiefs and people in its operation area.

Mr Emmanuel Ato Aubyn, the Community Relations Manager, said they would not only support the physical development of the communities, they would give preference to the local people, when it came to hiring of labour.

He was responding to questions at a public forum organized by the Kenyasi Students Union at Kenyasi in the Asutifi district.

"Education and Development; The Role of the Stakeholder" was the theme and it brought together chiefs, civil society organizations and other stakeholders in education to brainstorm on effective ways of improving the quality of education in the area.

Mr Aubyn said in as much as the mine would have liked to engage majority of its employees from the district, the difficulty was that many of the local people did not have the required qualification and skills.

He therefore encouraged the youth to take their education serious.

Mr Paul Okoh, Member of Parliament (MP) for the Asutifi-North, told young people in the area to accept some responsibility for their education and said this entailed working hard to achieve set targets.

He urged them to stay away from meddling in chieftaincy issues and rather channel their energies into productive ventures.

The MP praised the Union for organizing free vacation classes for pupils and students at Kenyasi.

Mr Eric Addae, the District Chief Executive (DCE), called for unity among the people to help push the development agenda of the area.

He announced plans to launch an education development fund to raise the standard of education.

GNA