By GBC,Nicholas Osei

Copyright gbcghanaonline

By Nicholas Osei-Wusu

The Chamber of Mines has expressed serious concern about the impunity with which residents of some mining communities are invading legally acquired gold mining concessions in parts of the country.

The situation, the Chamber observed, if not stopped now, could fester and drive away investors in the mining industry.

According to the Chamber of Mines, the recent intrusion into the concession of Asanko Gold and the resultant violent attack by residents of Mpatoam and Aboabo in the Amansie West District of Ashanti has led to the destruction of mining machinery and equipment worth about GH₵24 million, belonging to a wholly Ghanaian company.

Addressing journalists at a training workshop in Kumasi, the Chief Operating Officer of the Chamber of Mines, Ahmed Dasana Nantogmah, referred to a similar situation at Obuasi where some residents have virtually taken over a legal concession belonging to another indigenous mining company, cautioning that such tendencies should not be allowed to gain ground at the expense of lawful investment.

The two-day training was aimed at building the capacity of participating journalists and executives of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) on the proposed amendment of Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Act of 2006, Act 703, by the government towards reforming the mining industry in the country.

It was organized by the GJA and facilitated by the Chamber of Mines for journalists from the Ashanti, Ahafo, Bono East, Bono, Western, and Western North regions, which constitute Ghana’s mining regions.

The aim of the programme was to keep participants abreast of provisions in the Minerals and Mining Act in its current form, as well as the proposed amendments, while offering the Chamber of Mines the opportunity to state its position on the bill.

The Chief Operating Officer of the Chamber of Mines also expressed concern about the demand of the Tontokrom community to be allowed to trespass on legal concessions, which resulted in a violent confrontation between them and soldiers, leading to the loss of human lives and the destruction of mining equipment.

“You’ve got a mining license for 20 years and somebody comes to say, you’re not here, we want it, because we’re the community. We’re Ghanaians, we want food to eat. If you want to eat, go through the same process,” he said.

Mr. Nantogmah advised any citizen or group interested in mining gold to go through the legal processes to acquire a concession.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Mines, Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey, sharing the position of the Chamber on the proposed changes to the current mining law, argued that reducing mining leases from the present 30 years to 15 years, without any exceptions or by using the laws of other African countries, is already scaring prospective foreign investors.

Regarding the recommended mandatory one percent Community Development Agreement from gold proceeds for corporate social responsibility to catchment communities, he warned that it could benefit the mining companies rather than the beneficiary communities; hence, the prevailing provision should remain.

Ing. Ashigbey urged government to retain those provisions in the Act in its present state.

The Chamber also urged the media to make mining issues part of the key advocacy and discussion agenda to galvanize citizens to support measures aimed at protecting the industry and the environment, in order to retain and attract more investors for the benefit of both the national economy and local communities.