Where is the GH¢7m compsensation?
Information gathered by The Chronicle indicates that tension is gradually mounting in the communities affected by Newmont Ghana Gold Limited's cyanide spillage, over the fine slapped on the company by the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology.
The issues fuelling the tension are that the community people seem to have little or no knowledge about where the 45 per cent of the GH¢7 million fine meant to address development concerns in the area is kept, and secondly, the exact development projects the money would be used for.
Newmont, in what it described as an 'accidental overflow' in October 2009, spilled cyanide into the Subri River, which served as a source of drinking water to Jakakrom community and some hamlets along the river, as well as farmers from Ntotoroso, Kenyansi No. I, and Kenyansi II, killing its fishes.
After a vigorous advocacy, led by the Wassa Communities Against Mining (WACAM), the chiefs and the people of the affected communities called for a probe into the incident, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set a panel to investigate the matter, and found Newmont culpable of negligence in its operations, thereby causing the spillage.
Subsequently, a ministerial panel was set up by the Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ms. Sherry Ayittey, which prescribed a GH¢7 million penalty against Newmont, and further directed that the company put in place stringent environmental control measures to forestall a future occurrence.
According to the panel, 45 per cent of the GH¢7 million would be used to meet some developmental needs of the affected communities, 40 per cent paid to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), while the remaining 15 per cent would go to the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission.
However, ever since the company honoured its obligation in 2010, the members of the affected communities appear to have no knowledge of the whereabouts of their share of the cake.
'We don't know whether the money is still in the coffers of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, where the money was first paid to, or it has been transferred to the Asutifi Assembly, or our traditional councils,' said a resident of Jakakrom, who pleaded anonymity, in an exclusive interview with the paper.
'The money,' he noted, 'wherever it has been for all this while, must have accrued some interest, since it has not been spent on any development project that I know of, a year after the company had made the payment.'
The people are, therefore, calling on the Minister of Environment, Science and Environment, Asutifi District Chief Executive, the chiefs of Ntotoroso, Kenyasi No. I and Kenyasi No. II, to explain the whereabouts of the money, and what projects it would be spent on.
In separate interviews with some people in Jakakrom, Ntotoroso and Kenyasi No. I and Kenyasi No. II, they commonly suggested that the money should be used to upgrade the clinic in the area, which is located between Kenyasi No I and Kenyasi No. II, to either a polyclinic or a hospital, and to equip the health facility with the necessary resources to address their health needs.
They observed that the increase of population in the area, due to booming mining activities, is exerting undue pressure on the St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital in Hwidiem, since the clinic is not well-resourced to meet the health needs of the people.