3 Communities in Amansie West get mining concessions

The government has allocated separate mining sites to some three communities in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region.

The beneficiary communities are Banko, Yawkrom- Asamang, and Mosease-Abransie.

The concessions, expected to create 9,500 direct and indirect jobs, add up to the more than one million jobs created for Ghanaians in the small-scale mining industry.

This brings to 21, the number of communities that have so far benefited from the government’s Community Mining Scheme(CMS).

Responsible mining

Led by a Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources in charge of mining, George Mireku Duker, last  Wednesday, the government performed separate commissioning ceremonies at the towns to hand over the sites.

He said the objective of the government was to ensure responsible mining without causing any damage to the environment and the water bodies that serve as a source of drinking water to the host communities.

That, he said, was the reason the government was supporting all districts involved in community mining with equipment and technical support to ensure that they mined sustainably and responsibly.

Mr Mireku Duker seized the occasion to condemn illegal mining activities along the Black Volta, stating that measures were already in place to weed out the miners and protect the river body.

Present were the District Chief Executive, Nii Larteh Ollenu;  the Member of Parliament for Manso Nkwanta, George Obeng Takyi, chiefs and natives of the various communities, as well as members of the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Mining (GNASSM).

Mr Ollenu said in anticipation of the scheme, the assembly had already facilitated the formation and registration of 92 mining groups in the various communities, with a total membership of 1,104 people.

These groups, he said, were those who were fortunate to have participated in the training in Sustainable Small-Scale Mining at the University of Mines and Technology at Tarkwa in the Western Region.

For his part, Mr Obeng Takyi, pledged to play his role effectively in ensuring that there were strict adherence to the mining protocols as it would encourage the government to open more concessions and create more job opportunities for the people.

Appeal

At the various communities, the chiefs lauded the government for creating employment opportunities for the indigenous people, but hastened to add that the poor road network, which was adversely affecting economic activities, needed to be fixed.