The Ghana Chamber of Mines has expressed dissatisfaction with Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ)'s report on the state of human rights abuse at mining communities.

According to the Chamber of Mines, they were disappointed that the CHRAJ report aimed at achieving a long-term solution to the problem of allegations of abuses of the rights of people living in mining communities across the country, but the report merely restated stories of people who alleged that they had suffered human rights abuses.

"In the event, the report presents an unbalanced view which does not promote the finding of solutions," they said.

However, in an interview, the Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr. Richard Quayson dismissed the assertion of the Chamber of Mines and stressed that the report was a fair and balanced report on the human right situation in mining communities.

"I am ready to put my credibility on the line that the document was a fair, honest and balanced report that represents a true reflection of the broad human right problems in the country," he added.

Mr. Quayson indicated that the Commission was quite mild concerning the use of language since they did not want to engage in the blame game business.

The CHRAJ report on the State of Human Rights in Mining Communities was recently launched and revealed serious cases of human right abuses in mining communities and other issues.

According to Chamber of Mines although CHRAJ requested mining companies to submit their comments for consideration in the report, they regrettably decided not to incorporate those comments in the report.

The Chamber of Mines indicated that in its response they questioned CHRAJ's basis for concluding that mining' compensation mining companies pay was inadequate, given that the country did not have readily available benchmarks for determining compensation rates.

The Chamber of Mines claims that CHRAJ decided to ignore that proposition and lost the opportunity to find solutions to the compensation challenges in the sector and indeed in the country as a whole.

The Chamber of Mines further said that although CHRAJ indicated its concern for the protection of the human rights of all persons, it failed to make recommendations to prevent the encroachment of the legally acquired concessions of investors, whose interest the State has undertaken to protect.

Additionally, the Chamber of Mines was of the view that the report did not address the brutal armed attacks the illegal miners meted out to defenceless employees of mining companies.

In the circumstances the Chamber of Mines wondered what recourse investors have in the country when their assets, including human resources are trampled upon with impunity with some investors subjected to a different set of laws in the country such that their properties are expropriated and sometimes destroyed.

Touching on sections of the report, the Chamber of Mines said that on royalties the report stated that mining communities do not benefit from mineral royalties mining companies pay to government and they are unaware of a scheme by which government returns a portion of the royalty payments to the host community for development.

On this, the Chamber expressed its disappointment that the recommendations made by members of the Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) steering committee who were at the validation workshop in Kumasi prior to the launching were not included in the final report.

The CHRAJ in its report called for an enhancement in ensuring transparency in the payment of disbursements and utilization of royalties since it would help build trust between the authorities and their subject.

In addition CHRAJ commended mining companies for the periodic announcement of their mineral royalties but urged the government and the Chamber of Mines to publish the entire figures of mining production and all payments made to the local government and the traditional rulers.

On compensation and resettlement, the Chamber of Mines said it was unfair for CHRAJ to claim that section 74 of a law passed in 2006 was not being implemented for the simple reason that the principles of compensation under section 74 of the Minerals & Mining Law Act 703 had been followed.

The Minerals and Mining Law Act 703 was passed into Law on 31st March 2006 and the Regulations to give full effect and details for the implementation of the law have not been promulgated.

To find solutions to the challenges of compensation, the Chamber said that it had sort funding from BUSAC to conduct a study into the subject to make recommendations that will inform the regulations to the Minerals and Mining Law.

According to the CHRAJ report most communities were highly dissatisfied with compensation paid by companies for affected properties and these complaints were pervasive throughout large scale mining sites.

The Chamber of Mines said that on Livelihood and Employment, the report states that the loss of livelihoods of communities is a result of the appropriation of their land by mining companies without adequate compensation.

"It is incorrect that mining companies appropriate the lands of the communities, rather, it is government that awards concessions to mining companies and these companies compensate affected people according to the law," they added.

According to the Chamber of Mines as part of the compensation package they are of the view that the Government should facilitate the acquisition of alternative lands for affected farmers.

The Chamber of Mines further said it is also untrue that the companies do not consult the communities in the selection of projects on the contrary the new paradigm is that community committees relate directly with dedicated officers of the mines in consultative meetings to arrive at the choice of projects.

According to them, the recommendation for government to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the mining industry to the economy before granting further mining license appears to be informed by information CHRAJ had received on the contribution of mining to the economy.

"Indeed the report advocates a repositioning of the mining industry for a more realistic contribution to the economy vis-à-vis agriculture," they added.

The CHRAJ report indicated that there was high discontent among communities with the inability of companies in their area to employ the youth of the communities.

According to the report one of the constraining factors why communities do not benefit much from employment s the apparent lack of skills required by the mines in some of these communities.

On Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) the Chamber of Mines said that CHRAJ appears to have despaired at the nexus between surface right and mineral right. Besides requesting the authorities to educate communities that the minerals do not belong to them, it wonders how such knowledge will resolve the problems relating to deprivation of their livelihood.

Additionally, reference to the impacts of pits created by ASM's paling into insignificance compared to pits created by mining companies is unfair and without basis. It is noteworthy that the operations of large-scale mining companies including the location, design and size of large-scale mining pits are regulated by the EPA.

The report concedes that most of the tensions in the mining communities are as a result of illegal mining on the concessions of mining companies. However the report does not proffer solutions to the menace, other than requesting for implementing of innovative systems to control their activities.

According to the Chamber of Mines it was unfortunate that CHRAJ would be seen to condone illegality by requesting the control of illegal mining, unfortunately such positions only embolden the illegal miners to continue their nefarious activities because they find an ally and an advocate in the CHRAJ.