Ghana: Mosquitoes Invade Ahafo Communities
Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
Posted to the web April 13, 2006
Clement Boateng
Trome
Communities around Newmont Ghana Gold Limited's Ahafo gold mining project are blaming the company for the increasing population of mosquitoes and sudden rise in the cases of malaria in the area.
According to the residents, mosquitoes were not rampant in the area before Newmont constructed the water dam on the Subri River because "Subri River flowed swiftly, and there was no huge stagnant pool of water."
"Now Newmont has dammed the river Subri and the stagnant pool of water in the dam is serving as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and this has led to the high prevalence of malaria in the area," a resident complained.
Some of the mosquito-infested villages and hamlets near the dam that Chronicle visited were Dokyikrom, Trome, and Agya Brobbey village.
At Trome, Yakubu Issa, a farmer, told The Chronicle that hardly do they sleep at night due to the heavy presence of mosquitoes in the area.
He said even though mosquitoes have been in the area for ages, the construction of the water dam by Newmont has compounded the problem. At the time of The Chronicle's visit to the area, his three-year-old boy, Adams Yakubu, was in bed suffering severely from malaria.
According to Yakubu Issa, the people in the area formed a committee to meet with the company to find a lasting solution to the mosquito invasion and the rising malaria incidence in the area "but in a desperate attempt to break our front, Newmont has intentionally recruited all the members of the committee numbering about twenty four as guards over the very water dam that is breeding mosquitoes."
"In fact, we are not happy about what Newmont is doing. It is using divide and rule tactics to break our front and drown our complaints and we are very much aware of this trick."
Isaac Azere, a farmer at Agya Brobbey's village also confirmed that mosquitoes have invaded the area and there had been a sudden increase in malaria cases in the villages.
Afia Achiaa, a mother of six from a hamlet near Agya Brobbey's village, said her family members are also victims of the mosquitoes.
Mosquito bites were evident on the skin of Kwame Aboa, her one-year-old son.
Residents of the affected communities said Newmont should find a solution to the malaria explosion and other problems that had befallen them as a result of the company's operations "because we are poor people who cannot afford the high cost of malaria treatment."
Compounding the woes of the malaria-infested villages was an acute shortage of water, which the villagers also say has been caused by Newmont.
"We no longer get water from the Subri since the dam was created. The company therefore provided us with hand-dug wells but these wells are always dry.
When we complained, they brought us plastic tanks but the water in these tanks is never enough for our use."
"It sometimes takes a month before the company supplies us with water when the water in the tanks get finished; especially when it rains and the roads get slippery, because their tankers cannot ply the slippery roads," Achiaa explained.
They suggested, "If Newmont thinks it cannot provide solutions to these problems, then it should better resettle us, because we can't continue like this," Achiaa lamented.
The people also expressed concern about the construction of a spillway across the main road linking Yawusu community and the surrounding villages to Kenyasi. They complained that water from the spillway would block the access road between the two towns and cut the other hamlets off.
Newmont officials, however, say that the allegations being made are not justified. They regarded it as sad that cases of malaria, a disease which has been there long before Newmont's presence, are being attributed to the company without any good reason when the company is rather "doing our bit to reduce malaria in the entire mine area and surrounding areas. We have been undertaking anti-malarial actions in the whole area including spraying and fogging. This programme is steadily being intensified. Newmont is also participating in and supporting programs such as Netmark through our Community Health and Well-Being programme with the Ghana Health Service". We are all, including all Newmont employees, affected by the threat of mosquitoes and malaria. We all also have a job to do in reducing the incidence of this terrible affliction" says Newmont's Regional Director for External Affairs Dr. Chris Anderson.
According to Newmont, there is no basis for claiming that the damming of the River Subri has created worse conditions for the breeding of mosquitoes. Newmont External Affairs Manager, Mr. Randy Barnes, said, "The dam is stocked with fish that consume mosquito larvae. The issue is therefore whether we are dealing with realities or perceptions." Mr. Barnes, however, disclosed that the company would send a team to the villages visited by the reporter and interact with community members since the company is sympathetic to the living conditions of neighbouring communities. Newmont officials point to how improved living conditions in resettlement areas now attract non-resettled communities to want to be resettled as well, but indicate that it is not the intention of the company to resettle populations that do not have to be resettled as a result of project requirements.
According to Newmont, it is also not true that the company has "intentionally recruited all the members" of a local committee "as guards over the very water dam that is breeding mosquitoes" in order to break the front of the community. "Newmont had nothing whatsoever to do with the selection of this committee", Dr. Chris Anderson, stated.
Regarding the water situation in the communities Newmont says that, in close consultation with community members, it installed seven wells in the area and that these wells, in addition to five poly tanks, holding between 500 and 2000 gallons each, that were installed and are never left to run dry, have rather improved water supply in the area. "The tanks are filled regularly.
We will also be shortly installing new wells with hand pumps to augment supply. We take our impacts on water very seriously", says Dr. Chris Anderson.
Copyright © 2006 Ghanaian Chronicle.
