The President of the Ahafo Regional House of Chiefs, Barimah Twereko Ampem III, has commended Newmont Ahafo Mine for honouring its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments towards its host communities as well as ensuring good community relations.
Speaking during a working visit to Newmont Ahafo South Mine by members of Parliament’s Select Committee on Lands and Natural Resources yesterday, Barimah Twereko Ampem III, who is also the Omanhene of Ntotroso, said the setting up of the Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NADeF), for instance, had culminated in the successful execution of several sustainable development projects across the ten host communities of the company.
Some footprints
He mentioned the Ntotroso Nursing and Midwifery College, the Ntotroso Senior High School, the Police Training Centre at Kenyasi Number One and a satellite campus of the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) at Kenyasi Number Two as some of the footprints of Newmont since it began mining in Ahafo in 2006.
“We insisted that 50% of each academic year’s students’ intake of the Ntotroso Nursing and Midwifery College must come from the Ntotroso town, and through that Ntotroso can boast of about 500 nurses serving in various health institutions across the country,” Barimah Twereko Ampem III added.
He also said the chiefs were instrumental in the introduction of the Newmont Apprenticeship Programme, which had so far trained a lot of the youth from the company’s host communities in some critical areas of mining to brighten their chances of being employed either by Newmont or any other mining company.
Barimah Twereko Ampem III also said: “Whenever our people are unhappy about some aspects of their operations, and we (the chiefs), summon the company’s officials, they listen to us, and adhere to our counsel, and through that we chart a common course. As we speak, there is an excellent relationship between the company and the chiefs of the area. When it becomes necessary, we escalate the issue to Manhyia to bring finality to the issue.”
He attributed Newmont’s successful expansion of its operations to Akyem in the Eastern Region and Ahafo North in the Ahafo Region to the success stories recorded in Ahafo South.
Illegall mining
On illegal mining, also called galamsey, the Ntotrosomanhene expressed the chiefs’ commitment to efforts aimed at fighting the canker.
Alex Kofi Annim, the General Manager of Newmont Ahafo South Mine, said illegal mining remained a major headache for the company. He asked for the support of the Committee, the government and all stakeholders to help deal with the situation.
He said Newmont Ahafo Mine had, since its operations in 2006, produced approximately 9.6 million ounces of gold, and currently has a workforce of about 5,581 (both direct employees and workers of contractors working for the company).
The General Manager also disclosed that taxes paid to the government to date amounted to over $2.29 billion.
Sustainable projects
Members of the Committee, led by its Chairman, Collins Dauda, who is also the MP for Asutifi South, were taken round some facilities of the mine and some projects completed by the company, including the Ntotroso Nursing and Midwifery College and the four-million-dollar refurbished Asutifi Processing and Services Centre (APSC) at Subiriso, near Hwidiem.
APSC is a collaboration between Newmont Africa and GIZ to add value to ginger and chilli pepper and provide both direct jobs and indirect job opportunities for hundreds of people.
It will, among others, boost the income earnings of some 1,000 farmers, provide a ready market for about 80 farmer-based organisations with a view to reducing post-harvest losses and introduce modern methods of crop production while attracting more young people to agriculture.
The visit was at the instance of the Ghana Chamber of Mines.
