Speakers at the on-going 63rd Annual New Year School and Conference on Friday, stressed the need for a holistic cost analysis of Ghana’s minerals sector to assess the actual economic benefits and environmental impact over the years. They argued that the assessment would help address the possible challenges of the effective and efficient management of the oil and gas resource for national development.

 

Mr Daniel Twerefou, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Ghana contributing to a symposium on the topic: “Yellow Gold” Management for the Past Half-Century: Implications for the “Black Gold”, said Ghana had failed to manage her mineral resources over the years to yield the required dividend for national development.

 

He indicated that issues of the minerals industry were inter-generational in nature and had serious environmental and social challenges, which needed critical value placement to ascertain the level of destruction which involved both socio-economic, environmental and health implications in mining communities.   Mr Twerefou cited the failure of Ghana’s mining sector to contribute meaningfully to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country as a clear indication of the weak local content of her mineral policy and ineffective management of the resource.

 

“We are getting a negative impact from the mining sector as a result of poor management, resulting from weak monitoring structures to ensure that mining companies adhered strictly to laid down regulations governing the sector,” he said. 

 

He said it was worrying that after half a century of gold mining, Ghana could not boast of any positive impact and maximum benefits due to poor management systems, resulting from weak policies and monitoring structures. Mr Twerefou said these had led to the various breaches in environmental and safety laws, regulation in mining communities and conflicts in respect to landownership and benefits in royalties.

 

He cited instances of civil wars in neighbouring countries some of which were triggered by the mismanagement in the sharing of the resources of the country and urged government not to lose sight of the growing tensions in mining communities as a result of poverty and youth unemployment. “What we need to do as a country is to provide a Long Term National Strategy that builds on existing structures based on broad political consensus,” he said.

 

He indicated that there existed numerous knowledge and lessons from past mining activities in the county to provide leadership for the oil and gas sector, yet it could derive maximum benefit from its new discoveries if the past lessons were positively applied in future to bring about the required changes for the hopeful development of the country.

 

Mr Twerefou said: “We must also put in place policies that would ensure effective facilitation of petroleum businesses by supporting the private sector to add value to create spillover of related commodities on the market,” he said. He called for the streamlining of regulations and decoupling of the Petroleum Energy Policy and focusing on development of a Petroleum Policy to guide the sector

 

Mr Twerefou observed that most often, financial considerations tended to override local participation in petroleum agreements and suggested that procurement procedures be effectively monitored, defining clearly and quantitatively local content in terms of employment and value addition for the country to derive maximum benefit from it. He said government must develop strategies to monitor activities of multi-national companies to ensure technology transfer and adoption of local situation.

 

“There is so much information on oil revenue management now that we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes made years ago to the detriment of our future generations.” Mr Daniel Owusu Kwarteng, Executive Director of Wassa Communities Affected by Mining, an association that champions the course of mining communities, called for visionary leadership to prevent power imbalances in the oil and gas sector.

 

He expressed worry about the fact that mining companies had strong lobbying networks and were able to easily attract the government’s ear in their favour and as a result winning concessions in reserved areas where the already impoverished, illiterate and unorganised communities might suffer the ensuing consequence. Mr Kwarteng highlighting on some grassroots issues to buttress arguments of poor contribution of gold mining to the economy, cited poor compensation practices of mining companies as a major disincentive to local farmers.

 

He said most farmers had lost their farmlands to such mining activities without adequate compensation, while others in their quest to make a living had given in to pressures and monetary attractions of multi-national companies to sell reserved forest lands for mining activities irrespective of their consequences on their communities. Mr Kwarteng blamed the Government for setting a bad precedence by allowing mining concession in forest reserves, adding “When government teaches bad lessons the citizens learn fast”.

 

He urged government to take a cue from the challenges of neighbouring countries who had suffered dearly from their inactions to put in place appropriate structures for wealth creation for their people and tackle issues of rising tensions in various communities with seriousness, to ensure that the oil find became a blessing for Ghana rather than a curse. 

 

Dr Thomas Kwesi Adu,  Deputy Director of the Geological Survey Department (GSD), has described as misleading a caption dubbed “GSD confirms gold deposits at Elmina”  carried by the Daily Graphic on Thursday January 12, 2012.

 

He said the caption was misleading because the investigations carried out  by the Department showed only indications of gold occurrences and not a deposit at the Elmina beach.

 

Dr Adu who said this at a press conference in Elmina, explained  that for the gold find to be described as a deposit, the GSD has to carry out laboratory tests to determine the gold grade of the beach sand and establish whether it is of economic value or not.

 

He said in principle, mineral deposits are concentrations of minerals that are of economic value and that in the Elmina beach alluvial-gold situation, GSD’s investigations so far have not shown anything of economic importance though there are indications of gold specks present.

 

Dr Adu, who is also the project coordinator, said in the geological terrain of Ghana, gold is present in the Birimian that occupies the western half of the country and that all rivers and streams from the north draining this terrain carry sediments load which are eventually deposited in the sea and later brought to the beach by wave action. 

 

He said so far no economic assessment of the area has been made as samples are yet to be analyzed and results evaluated and appealed to the media to be circumspect in their reportage and endeavour to consult the right officials for the necessary information concerning the gold find. 

 

Dr Adu rendered unqualified apologies to the sector Minister of Mines and Natural Resources, Mr Mike Hamah, The Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe and the Municipal Chief Executive of KEEA, Mr Sam Arthur for the inconvenience the publication might have caused them.

 

Mr Sam Arthur, the Municipal Chief Executive of Komenda-Edina-Eguafo Abirem (KEEA), commended the GSD for conducting the survey on the Gold find and called on all galamsey operators and fishermen to cooperate with the GSD to enable them effectively perform their duties.

 

He urged the galamsey operators to exercise restraint and allow the GSD to come out with its final report on the gold find stressing that as much as it was the interest of the assembly to protect their interest and take care of their welfare it would not allow few people to jeopardize the future of the Elmina beaches.

 

He tasked the chief fireman to educate his men not to engage in galamsey businesses, adding that the necessary measures would be put in place to keep people off the beach to enable the GSD successfully complete its work.

 

The Chief Fisherman Nana Akonu commended the Municipal assembly and GSD for the prompt action they had taken to conduct a survey on the gold find at the beach and promised that he would educate his members on the need to stay away from mining at the beach until the GSD completes its survey.

 

Four Chinese persons on Wednesday appeared before Takoradi Circuit Court “B” for allegedly possessing mercury without license and illegal mining. They are Xu Xiao, Tang Jian, Tang Lin He and Yang Xian. Their pleas were not taken and they were remanded to re-appear on February 7 this year.

  

Prosecuting, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Richard Bortey, said the Western Regional Police received information that some foreigners and local people were engaged in illegal mining activities at Wassa Akropong. He said on December 21 last year, a joint team of Police and Military launched an operation at Wassa Akropong to bring those involved in the illegal mining to book.

 

ASP Bortey said the accused persons were arrested during the operation and a number of items were seized at the mining sites and their permanent places of abode. The items included a Kanka television set, domestic and industrial cylinders, one chainsaw machine, a pair of military uniform, three unserviceable walkie-talkie and 11 mobile phones.

 

The rest were 169 empty cartridges, 19 AAA live cartridges, 176 live BBB cartridges, one Toyota Pick-Up, two double-barrel pump action guns, five gold ingots, an excavator and personal effects. ASP Bortey said the accused claimed ownership of the items and after further investigations, they were charged. 

 

The Ghana Journalists Network on Mining, Oil and Gas (GJNMOG), is calling on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to, as matter urgency, carry out proper investigations to unravel the mystery behind the large quantities of fishes found dead in the Subri River Dam at the Newmont Ghana Gold Limited’s (NGGL) Ahafo Mine.

GJNMOG further asked EPA to make their findings public after their investigations, observing that reports on such issues hardly made known to the public.

The statement issued by the Network and signed by the National President, Raphael Godlove Ahenu, described the incident as unfortunate and very disturbing given its health implications on human life. According to the statement, GJNMOG finds the conflicting and dispositions of Newmont Officials very worrisome and difficult to comprehend.

Newmont’s statement on the issue attributed the death of the fishes to Harmattan weather conditions but explanation by the Regional Communications Manager of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL), Ms. Adiki Ofeibea Ayitevie, on an Accra based Radio Station suggested that the fishes might have dead as a result of low level of oxygen in the river dam.

The GJNMOG recalled that somewhere October 2009, Newmont’s negligence led to spillage of Cyanide, a dangerous chemical, into the Subri River, killing several fishes. The company initially started defending its action by accusing the residents in the area of chemical fishing but later Newmont accepted its fault, however, downplayed the magnitude of the cyanide spillage.

However, the company, after EPA’s investigations, was found guilty and subsequently fined a penalty of 7 million Ghana cedis, which the company paid to the government, a year after the spillage and also provided alternative source of water to the communities.

GNJMOG is entreating Newmont not to go by its usual propaganda gimmicks but should accept their fault and work towards adopting sound environmental practices to forestall future occurrences.Some members of GJNMOG who visited the site described as unpleasant the stench emanating from the dead fishes and chemicals which could be harmful to human and animal health.

Given the health implication on the life of the people living to closer to the seemingly polluted raw water dam, GJNMOG therefore added its voice to the communities’ call on Newmont Ghana Gold Limited for resettlement or relocation.

The statement also condemned the attack on one of its members, Nestor Kafui Adjomah, who was filming the dead fishes packed on roadside for public view, by three of Newmont workers, damaging his video camera in the process.

The GJMONG is therefore on the officials of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited to render an unqualified apology to GJNMOG in general and the member in particular. The statement also asked Newmont to replace the damaged video camera.