GREL provides Wassa Essaman with potable water
The Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL), operating in the Western Region, has constructed a 20,000-litre water project at a cost of GH¢95,000 for the people of Wassa Essaman, a predominantly farming community in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem municipality.
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The provision of the potable water followed a request made by the leadership of the town to the company for a simple hand-dug well but the management decided to build a more durable water facility which could also be extended to other adjoining communities.
Hitherto, the people had been relying on streams contaminated by substances from illegal mining (galamsey) operations, thereby getting exposed to health hazards.
Encroachment on leased lands
Speaking at a hand-over ceremony of the facility at Wassa Essaman, the Corporate Affairs Manager of GREL, Mr Perry Acheampong, appealed to the people to desist from encroaching on the land leased to the company by the traditional authorities for its operations.
He explained that the people stood the chance of benefiting immensely from the company if they allowed the management to carry on with their work without any hindrance, stressing that galamsey activities on the operational land areas were hampering the smooth operations of the company.
Mr Acheampong indicated that the company had established a Community Grievance Handling Desk in the area, so that anyone not satisfied with any programmes of the company could channel his/her dissatisfaction through the office for amicable resolution rather than resorting to all manner of attacks and demonstrations.
The Managing Director of GREL, Mr Lionel Barre, also urged the people to consider the operations of the company as their bonafide property, saying, ‘‘Our benefits are your own so let us continue with the existing partnership and collaboration to benefit from more social projects.”
The Omanhene of the Nsein Traditional Area, Awulae Agyenfi Kwame II, noted that GREL was committed to the welfare of the host communities and asked the people to be circumspect in their dealing with the management and workers.
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He alleged that some of the traditional authorities were actively involved in the galamsey activities, since they relied on the proceeds for their livelihoods, adding that the hitherto evergreen forests bequeathed to the people by their forefathers had all been depleted owing to negative practices.
‘‘Selfishness on the part of some chiefs has left our forest resources rotten and for the next 50 years our children and grandchildren cannot survive,’’ Awulae Kwame, who is also the Chairman of the Association of Chiefs on whose lands GREL operates, pointed out.
The chief of Essaman, Nana Kuranchie Panyin III, who chaired the function, expressed his appreciation and thanks to the management of the company for the project, stressing that GREL had contributed significantly towards the development of the town and other areas in the municipality.