Lands Ministry directs mining company to suspend operations
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has temporarily suspended the operations of Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited at Gbane in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region.
Advertisement
This followed reports received by the ministry to the effect that the operations of the company had allegedly caused the death of some residents in the area.
Consequently, the company has asked its 500 workers to go home.
Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited is into prospecting and mining, drilling and blasting and also provides support services to companies.
The directive by the ministry to the mining company was contained in a letter dated April 24, 2017, signed by the sector Minister, Mr John Peter Amewu, and copied to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Minerals Commission.
The letter, addressed to the Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited, said the minister “has received reports that your mining operations at Gbane in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region have allegedly caused the death of some people in that area.
“It has been reported that this is not the first time such an incident has occurred in your mine and this cannot be allowed to continue.”
The letter explained that the action by the ministry was also to enable "thorough investigations to be conducted into the matter and that the suspension shall remain in force until investigations are completed and the appropriate decisions taken by me."
Angry workers
Meanwhile, workers of the company are not happy with the ministry’s decision, describing it as "unfair and giving undue advantage to illegal miners to continue their illegal mining activities."
Some of the workers wondered why the company, which was licensed to operate, would be given such a directive.
They said the development would have a rippling effect on their immediate families and other dependants.
They also noted that if the issue was not handled properly, it would result in increased crime and other social vices in the area, aside from giving those engaged in galamsey much more opportunity to carry out the illegality.
The aggrieved workers alleged that it was rather those engaged in galamsey who had been straying onto the concessions of Shaanxi and had been blasting unprofessionally, thereby causing their own deaths.
Management
That allegation was corroborated by the Human Resource Manager of the company, Mr Joseph Anokye, at a news conference, where he said it was not the operations of the company that resulted in the recent deaths of seven people in the area, but rather the activities of the illegal miners.
He said some illegal miners usually strayed onto the mining concessions of the company without the knowledge of management.
According to him, the management of the company had written several letters to the various regulatory bodies, including the Minerals Commission and the police, to help stop the illegal mining in the area but to no avail.
The Underground Mine Manager, Mr Thomas Yenzanya, said the company had successfully carried out its blasting without any problems only to learn that seven people had died elsewhere.
"We have 18 professional and experienced blastmen who know the blasting procedures. These blastmen had worked in places like AngloGold Ghana before they joined the Shaanxi Mining Company," he said.
Mr Yenzanya said it would, therefore, be unfair for anyone to suggest that the company was responsible for the deaths that had been occurring in the area.
In any case, he contended that those who died had strayed into the operational areas of Shaanxi and that was not known to the company.
Reaction to CCT
The Legal Advisor to the company, Mr Rockson Akugre, showed the media representatives present all the legal documents acquired by the company that gave it the legal backing to operate on its mining concession at Gbane.
The Shaanxi management also dismissed claims that the company had failed to pay taxes and stated that all receipts in that respect were in the possession of the company.
Apart from that, the management said it was not true as suggested by the Concerned Citizens of Talensi (CCT) that the company paid workers GH¢250 when in fact, the company had instituted the payment of bonuses to its workers as some of the incentives to motivate them.
Touching on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the company mentioned the completion of a new nine-unit classroom block, the construction of a $1million bridge to link Kejetia and Tarkwa, areas in the Talensi District, construction of 10 boreholes, donations to support both the annual Farmers Day celebration and festivals in the district as some of its CSR activities in the area.
Background
The Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited started operating in 2010 and employs 552 people out of which 413 were employed from the catchment area of the company.
A few weeks ago, seven people were confirmed dead at Gbane when the pit in which they were said to be illegally mining caved in on them.
The accident happened as a result of a mine blast but it was unclear who caused the blast, as both those in the community and the Shaanxi company have been engaged in accusations and counter accusations.