Mining firms should undertake legacy projects — NAELP Coordinator
The Coordinator for the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme (NAELP) has made a clarion call on mining companies to undertake legacy projects that will culminate in the socio-economic transformation of Ghana.
Speaking during a meeting with the management of the Goldfields Ghana Ltd last Friday, the Coordinator, Dr Louise Carol Donkor, advanced the need for companies to embark on projects that would honour and contribute to the development of communities and leave a lasting impression on Ghana.
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She said undertaking viable and responsible projects in communities would not just spur the growth of such communities but also create a long-lasting and unique bond between the company and community that would ensure the smooth operations of the firm.
Dr Donkor stated that an avenue where mining firms could make a lasting and sustainable impact was by coming together to build a Mining Museum and also contribute to the development of the Gold Souq, a marketplace for gold, where the youth could undertake artisan jewellery making.
The NAELP coordinator also stated that a good impression would also be made in the communities through the rehabilitation and reclamation of destroyed lands and providing employment along the value chain of their operations.
Collaboration
Dr Donkor, who also visited FGR Bogoso Prestea Mines, Anglogold Idupriem and Chirano Mines, implored the companies to collaborate with the NAELP to rehabilitate and restore some degraded lands that could be used for alternative livelihood sources and also work towards livelihood options along the value chains of mining.
She observed that prior to the establishment of the NAELP, large-scale mining companies had been making huge investment in their communities with the aim of providing alternative sources of livelihood and developing them and that her presence was to explore ways those investments and CSR projects could be scaled up to augment the government’s efforts of establishing other economic outlets for persons who hitherto engaged in illegal mining.
“We want to learn about what you have been doing in terms of CSR and the forecast for the future. The idea is that the government cannot do it all so we want to build some collaboration on mutual interests ,” she added.
Dr Donkor further called for a comprehensive study into Ghana’s mining architecture to ascertain local representation in the large-scale industry and how it can be improved.
The Community Affairs and Public Relations Manager of the Gold Fields GH Ltd, Florence Ansere-Bioh, stated that since its arrival, the Gold Fields had remained committed to the growth of communities within its catchment areas.
She welcomed the offer by the NAELP to collaborate with her outfit to create sustainable and valid opportunities for Ghanaians living in mining areas and to seize the opportunity of an exhibition platform to tell their success stories.