By Jack Adom
The Ghana Stock Exchange-listed gold miner has been advised to do more to educate the people in the communities and other stakeholders on the challenges facing the company and the far-reaching measures that are being implemented to rejuvenate the over 117 year old operation.
The? Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Samuel Sarpong, made this observation when he visited t operation on recently, companied by his high level advisors including the Obuasi Municipal Chief Executive; commended not only the ‘locomotive’ role being played by AngloGold Ashanti in the social and economic development of Obuasi and the country especially in job creation, export earnings, taxation as well as community development. The minister also commended AGA for its “collaborative efforts with the Obuasi Municipal Assembly” and other business and social partners in the country in its? quest “to identify and provide alternative sources of income for workers who would be affected by the company’s Amended Programme of Mining”.
Looking beyond mining, Dr. Sarpong said “we must all know that apart from mining, other areas such as agriculture, tourism and services can be made to contribute meaningfully towards the economy of the region … this means that efforts to diversify the economy of Obuasi should be encouraged”; adding that “we should all throw our support behind AngloGold Ashanti to succeed in these tough and challenging times.”
Mr. Fred Attakumah, Managing Director of the mine, in his earlier presentation, commended the regional minister for his immense contribution to the fight against illegal miners, who have violently and irresponsibly become a fetter not only to the security and safety of the people in the communites, but have adversely affected the running and direction of the Obuasi operation, in terms of cost and destruction of mine plans and pollution of the environment, forest and waterbodies with deadly chemicals.
?Mr. Attakumah spoke about the changing but dangerous trends of the illegal miners and the unscrupulous use of explosives on the mine, and warned against the horrors of uncontrolled use of explosives in the mining communities. He suggested the urgent intervention of the government to contain the situation.
He said the mine is currently been weighed down by complex challenges and management is putting measures in place to reverse the downward fortunes of the mine, but the challenges have not diluted the company’s resolve to invest socially in the communities; saying – “these challenges have not diluted the company’s quest to ensure that communities and societies where AGA operates benefit from the company’s presence”.
Mr. Attakumah said besides assisting employees to plan and manage their lives better, the company organized a job and investment fair recently to educate and create awareness on money management as well as investment opportunities in the country; and said – “we are creating more options,? with our partners like Technoserve and National Board for Small Scale Business? for the workers in areas, such as agriculture, education, finance, mining; oil and gas, tourism, health, utilities and construction”. This will enable the workers to put their money into good use for their own future.
For the people in the communities, the Obuasi Managing Director explained that, the AGA Obuasi Community Trust Fund has so far concentrated its attention on education but will continue to provide projects which will be selected by the communities during the ‘care and maintenance’ period.? The three year – old Trust Fund has provided special mini – buses to several schools in the Adansi and Amansie districts, in addition to hundreds of computers, and last year it spent GHC600.000 on educational projects in four districts in Amansie Central and Obuasi Municipal Assembly.
Concluding his presentation Mr Attakumah also reiterated his oft- repeated plea to stakeholders that? ?- AGA will continue to count on the support of its stakeholders for their patience; understanding and support? in these tough and challenging times? to enable it implement its plan to make Obuasi the leading brand of choice, once again in Ghana. At its zenith in the 1980s, the mine was one of the biggest gold producers and foreign exchange earner in the country but due to the deep-seated challenges weighing down its performance, Obuasi has lost its brand to its peers.
