Review investment agreements with mining companies
Stakeholders have urged the government to urgently review the investment agreements it has signed with mining companies in the country in order for the indigenous people in the various mining communities to benefit from those agreements.
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They made the appeal at a day’s forum on "Conflict prevention mechanisms’ organised by the Centre for African Elections Media Monitoring Index (CAEMMI), a non-profit and independent international organisation, at New Abirem.
The participants were of the view that certain aspects of the mining and minerals laws in the country needed to be changed since they were not in the best interest of the people when it came to negotiations between mining companies and the affected communities.
The participants were made up of chiefs, queens, opinion leaders, assembly members, youth leaders, security agencies, the district assembly and representatives of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE). Community members who took part were from New and Old Abirem, Afosu, Mamanso, Hweakwae,Yayaaso, Adausena and Ntronang which have all been affected by operations of Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd (NGRL), Akyem Project.
In a presentation made on behalf by Miss Linda Gyala, Project Co-ordinator, Dr Mawugbe Measan, Executive Director and Founder of CAEMMI, said the organisation was committed to promoting democracy and governance in Africa by engaging elections media monitoring intelligence tools.
Dr Mawugbe continued that CAEMMI had, however, set up a project of identifying multifaceted dynamics of conflict triggers and risks for effective pre-intervention and mitigation of likely conflicts, peace and security in the extractive industry in Ghana.
He said apart from that, the project aimed at measuring the communal livelihood and the effects of occupational activities on conflicts in managing traditional sources of income, the extent of current levels of conflicts linked to women and children, provision of measures for mitigating such occurrences and establishing the root causes of actual or potential conflicts.
He revealed that apart from New Abirem and its environs where research had been carried out to identify potential conflict triggers and mechanisms to mitigate them, CEAMMI had completed similar projects at Tinga and Kue in the Bole Bamboi District, Zabzugu/ Tatale, Gushegu and Karaga all in the Northern Region and certain areas in the Upper West, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions.
Presenting some highlights of the research findings carried out at New Abirem and other surrounding mining communities, Dr Mawugbe pointed out that the expectations of a large number of unemployed youth to be employed by Newmont had not been realised, saying it had the potential to create tension in the area.
The research proved that agitation by the youth, claims of land owners that compensations paid them by Newmont for their property was inadequate and the allegations by indigenes of recruitment of migrant workers rather than the local people were all potential sources of conflict.
The research again disclosed that inadequate water supply systems, scarcity of farm lands for farming activities and the influx of migrants to seek jobs and the likelihood of conflicts between the locals and the migrants in the event of the latter going after their women due to economic challenges were all potential sources of conflict in mining communities. — GNA
