Public Agenda (Accra)
Selorm Amevor
11 August 2008
Obuasi — The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for Obuasi, Mr. John Alexander Kobina Ackon has said that although gold, which is the nation's main foreign exchange earner, is mined in the constituency, it has not reflected in the development of the area.
He said the under development is because local authorities have not benefited much from the royalties paid by the mining companies to government and this has made it impossible for the town to develop.
In addition, local authorities have not realized the need to include mining companies operating in the area in the developmental agenda of the area.
Mr. Ackon also took a swipe at mining companies operating in the area who have not done much to ensure that the communities benefit from their activities.
According to him when given the mandate he will ensure that the Municipal Assembly and the mining companies come out with a working document to take care of the development problems the area is currently facing.
He said that the area is currently undergoing serious unemployment crisis because the Anglogold Ashanti Obuasi mine, which used to employ over 18000 workers including indigenes currently employs only about 4000.
Mr. Ackon said there is the need for local authorities to liaise with the mining companies in order to tap their resources and also include them in the development agenda of the area.
He slammed critics who argue that the Obuasi township has received its fair share of development, since it would have been worse off without the emergence of mining companies.
Mr. Ackon said that the usual cliché by mining companies is that they would leave the communities they operate in better than they met them, so if mining has been going on for over a hundred years they should make an assessment of the Obuasi township whether it has received its fair share of development.
On the Minerals and Mining Act 703, he said the current law does not favour the indigenes because the land is vested in the Presidency on behalf of the citizenry and mining companies begin negotiations with the communities after the land has been given to them by the President.
"The mining communities lose in terms of the compensation package given to them by the companies since there is little they can do to ensure that they receive what they truly deserve," he added.
According to him "the value is very small in terms of compensation since the company only pays for the tree and not the land."
He wondered if any mining company in the country has ever paid an individual an amount of GH¢10,000 as compensation after taking over their land which is a lifetime property.
He said as part of his vision for the constituency he will liaise with the mining company to build a steel refinery which was part of vision 2020 of then NDC government.
Touching on the issue of illegal miners popularly known as "galamsey", he said that from all indications the use of brutal force by the mining companies and government has not helped curtail the issue.
According to him there is the need for both the mining companies and government to consider the Galamsey workers as stakeholders in the industry and not enemies.
"Most of those engaged in the illegal mining business are the youth who are unemployed and would also like to survive in the harsh prevailing economic conditions," he said.
Mr. Ackon commended WACAM, a non-governmental grass root organization for creating the necessary awareness to ensure that communities also know more about their rights.
He urged mining companies to appreciate the work of the organization since it is only when communities are enlightened that they can also live in harmony and have a peaceful environment.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Public Agenda. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
