Negative report on Akrokeri-Ashanti (AKR.V) Bonte Mine
Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
July 23, 2004
Posted to the web July 23, 2004
GHANA, ONCE called the Gold Coast because of her abundant reserves of that most precious of metals, has got very little to show for the many years during which mining companies have made millions of dollars exploiting her natural mineral resources.
After years of independence managing our own affairs, it is obvious that most mining communities have not really benefited from the exploitation of the resources God, in His widsom, placed under their land.
One may argue that for many years, as we suffered under the colonial yoke, there was little we could do to ameliorate the situation.
Carry the argument further and you would conclude that the very nature of colonialism forbade the colonial masters from doing anything meaningful for the native people who seemed only good for menial jobs and nothing much else.
However, those were during the days of colonialism and the unblinking exploitation of the natives for which the colonial masters had no one to apologise to.
With independence, however, one would have hoped that our politicians, chiefs and other opinion leaders would have come to the realization that enough was enough and that the mining companies would compensate for years of neglect by providing the localities with some basic infrastructure and incentives to help them develop.
Sadly, this has not been the case and up to now, these mining companies have not done much for the indigenes whose lands have given them so much.
The Chronicle is happy that some of our traditional leaders have come to realize the basic unfairness of this situation and are now agitating for a better package for the people. Specifically, we would like to acknowledge the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin's persistent calls on mining companies to help to improve the living conditions of the communities in which they operate, as most appropriate.
The Okyenhene did not mince his words when he bluntly stated that mining companies had grossly neglected most of the communities in which they operate, leaving them in a state of poverty and deprivation. He asked these companies to change their attitude to environmental and social responsibilities so that the people could benefit from the natural resources with which they have been endowed by nature.
What is worse is that some of these communities lose lives and property through mining activities without any meaningful compensation. The Okyenhene cited diseases, pollution and land degradation as the outcome of such mining activities.
The Chronicle agrees with him on these matters because a visit to a place like Obuasi or Tarkwa will confirm all these gross deficiencies.
A classic case of neglect of mining communities by mining companies is the current development at the Bonte Gold Mines in the Ashanti Region which, according to media reports, has been liquidated without due processes.
The company is said to have left a debt of about $18 million owed state institutions and private companies. It also abandoned its 400 workers and farmers whose farms were affected by its operations without paying their entitlements.
But worst of all, the company closed down without reclaiming the land destroyed by its operations. While the workers, farmers and the community at large lament over their future livelihood, the management of the company have long left for Canada.
We hope, as the Okyenhene has insisted, the government would ensure that whoever would exploit the bauxite deposits in the Atiwa mountain ranges, would not leave the people of the area poorer than they found them.
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Happily, some of the mining companies have become aware of the roles they have to play in uplifting the communities within which they operate. Gold fields Ghana Limited for example, has already spent $4 million in infratructural work in the area of its operation since 1993.
The Chronicle believes such must be the relationship between the companies and their local communities so that a cordial and harmonious atmosphere could be engendered for the benefit of all parties. We acknowledge the help these foreign comapnies are bringing and only wish that they do more so that Ghana can develop and realise her dream to become a middle-income country, soon.
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