­Communities call on mining company to fulfil social contract

Seventeen communities in the catchment area of the Owere Mines Limited in Konongo in the Ashanti Region have called on the company to endeavour to fulfil a social contract it has signed with the people.

They have also entreated the company to pay all outstanding royalties, stop dumping cyanide into the Kyereben pit which eventually pollutes the Apoposu River at Nyaboe and also reclaim lands after operations.

Nana K. Boapiah, the Agyareago Gyasehene, told a gathering of angry citizens, most of whom were clad in black apparel, at Patriensa, a suburb of Konongo, that the people would embark on a series of demonstrations in the next five months until their demands were met.

The intended demonstrations, which will commence next week, are yet to receive approval from the Ashanti Regional Police Command.

Reaction

The management of Owere Mines Limited has, however, expressed surprise at the turn of events because it alleges that after one year of its operations, the company has paid royalty of GH¢1.77 million to the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).

The Mine Manager, Kofi Nti, told the Daily Graphic that the communities and, indeed, the traditional authorities, had failed to track and access their share of the fund.

He explained that normally when payment was made to the GRA, it was paid into government chest and that what was due the traditional authorities was disbursed to them through the Administrator of Stool Lands.

“It is incumbent on the relevant beneficiaries to know the right processes and procedure to access their money rather than accuse the mines wrongly,” he indicated.

Owere Mines

The mining company is currently running a test programme and a feasibility study to fully assess the quantum of gold it can explore in the area.

It took over the concession in 2012 and it is to begin full-scale operations in two years. The concession has been managed by different companies since 1931.

Mr Nti claimed that the aggrieved communities were being instigated by some disgruntled illegal miners.

However, the Secretary of the Asante Akim Concerned Citizens, Asare Bediako, insisted that the company was only given a “prospecting licence and not a mining or exploration licence” and, therefore, urged the government to revoke the licence.

Death trap

He further alleged that a number of children had been trapped over the years and died because the mined lands had not been reclaimed.

Mr Bediako told a press conference that there was no clear demarcation of Owere Mines concession because the company claimed to own any site that had gold.

The company had also failed to be alive to its social responsibilities, he said.

Mr Nti, however, denied those allegations and said the company was currently engaged in “care and maintenance” and was yet to begin operations, for which reason it could not be encroaching on some lands.

Meanwhile, the Mineral Commission is expected to broker peace between the two parties.