Emmanuel Akli
6 July 2004
Tarkwa — The General Manager of Goldfields Ghana Limited (Tarkwa Mine), Mr. Johan Botha, has announced the preparedness of his management to construct and tar feeder roads within the catchments area of the company, provided the people considered that as their top priority.
He said though the Regional Minister, Mr. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, did make an appeal to his administration to choose one of the feeder roads and tar it, the local people themselves had not submitted any proposal to him to support the idea, adding that until the people supported the idea, his management had little to do.
He was speaking at the handing over ceremony of a number of projects that ranged from school blocks to community centers to the people of Atuabo and Brahababom - all communities in its catchments area at Tarkwa last Thursday.
According to Botha, at the beginning of their fiscal year, his management called consultative meeting with all the communities surrounding the mine to determine the projects the latter wanted his company to initiate for them.
He said though a number of consultative meetings had been held after the regional minister had made the appeal, none of the communities had named tarring of their feeder road as a project they wanted his company to initiate for them.
Botha said his company was however ever ready to construct and tar any feeder road the people would choose provided the cost fell within the budget they had set aside to help in the infrastructure development of the communities in the particular year.
He said furtherthat GGL was committed to pursuing with tenacity, the aims and objectives of a foundation trust fund that was instituted in 2002 to assist the government in its development in the areas of health, education and alternative livelihood projects, with priority consideration to the communities surrounding their area of operation.
According to him, Goldfields Ghana Limited had so for spent $3.39million to help in the infrastructural development of the communities in their area of operation since the company began operation in 1993.
He gave assurance that his company would continue to commit more funds to support development projects in its area of operation so long as they continued to make profit from their operations.
Touching on the re-opening of the Tarkwa underground mine, Botha said they had got fair results on the feasibility studies they had so far carried on the possible re-opening of the underground mine. He, however, said more feasibility studies were being undertaken still and that they were still studying the situation. Botha hinted that if it became possible for them to go into underground mining, a new hole would have to be drilled.
The district chief executive for Wassa West, Mr. Emmanuel Kwesi Ayensu said when one heard discussions going on in our media and other fora, the person was tempted to believe that there was nothing good in having mining companies in one's district.
"I personally believe that it is these sources of information that have made some people very hostile to some mining concerns," he said and added that what Goldfields had done should remind all that but for the location of the company in the district, it would have taken a long time to put some of the school infrastructures in place.
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