Asantehene chatises politicians for fuelling galamsey operations
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has chastised politicians for empowering and emboldening galamsey operators for their business to flourish.
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He said politicians of all shades had not been able to muster courage to enforce the laws governing small-scale mining for fear of losing votes during elections.
The Asantehene said this at the inauguration of the Asanko Gold Mines at Manso Nkran in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region on Tuesday.
He emphasised that politicians could not absolve themselves of the galamey menace, which threatens human lives, adding: “Very soon, all the main water bodies will either be polluted or become extinct.”
He urged those in authority to crack the whip by ensuring that the laws governing small-scale mining were rigorously enforced and those who flouted them brought to book.
Equal pay
Otumfuo Osei Tutu urged the South African company to ensure that it did not discriminate in the payment of salaries to expatriates and Ghanaians.
He said it would be unfair for expatriates with the same qualification as their Ghanaian counterparts to earn more than their local colleagues.
He urged the company to focus on engaging graduates from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), the University of Mines, Tarkwa, as well as other mining institutions, to empower the youth.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu further cautioned workers against making unnecessary demands and congratulated the management of the company on ensuring that the needs of the people within its catchment area were catered for in the two years that it had been in operation.
Chiefs/DCEs charged
The Minister of Mines and Natural Resources, Nii Osa Mills, said the government had put in place measures to fight illegal mining and had charged chiefs and district chief executives to help fight the canker.
“Galamsey is a form of oppression and the earlier we join hands to fight it, the better it will be for all of us,” he said.
He said in spite of the challenges confronting the industry, Ghana was ranked among the 10 top mining countries in the world last year.
CEO
The CEO of Asanko Gold Incorporated, Mr Peter Breese, said last year alone Asanko Gold contributed more than $200 million to the Ghanaian economy through taxes, royalties, goods and services.
He said more than 223 Ghanaian businesses benefited from the mines, which has helped to employ many locals.
Last year, he added, the company supported the establishment of the Obotan Cooperative Credit Union to help the locals secure credit for their operations.
Mr Breese said this year, the mines would collaborate with CODE, a Canadian non-governmental organisation (NGO), on a new initiative called Reading Ghana to promote reading and writing skills among children in its catchment area.