Aggrieved community leaders and youth in towns and villages in the Prestea Huni Valley District in the Western Region have stormed the concession of Golden Star Bogoso-Prestea Limited (GSBPL) at Prestea Nakaba Nsum to halt the gold mining activities of the company.
According to the residents, the mining activities of the company were destroying water bodies and violating their fundamental human rights.
The incident, which occurred on Saturday, April 1, 2017 according to leaders of Prestea Communicators for Development (PCD), a youth group that acts as the mouthpiece of Prestea, has created tension in the area with the residents calling on government to advise the multinational gold mining company to stop what they described as “inhumane mining operations.”
A statement signed and issued by the leaders of PCD including Comrade Francis Eshun, James Samuel Ackerson, Philip Gyan and Jonas Kyeremanteng and copied to Today in Accra yesterday, pointed out that the community members took the action to stop the operation of the company on its concession at Prestea Nakaba Nsum on the grounds of gross violation of the terms of condition in the contractual agreement between the traditional authority of Prestea and GSBPL.
According to the statement, since the company started its commercial gold mining operations in its catchment communities including Prestea, Bogoso, Himan, Bondaye, Mbease Nsuta, Boppoh, Ehyireso, Adamanso and Dumase in the Western Region, “it had had very little to show, in terms of corporate social responsibility, but on the contrary, has destroyed vital infrastructure put up by the defunct State Gold Mining Company.”
“Today, if you come to Prestea, we have one of the worst roads in the country. The only hospital, built by the defunct State Gold Mining Company in 1929 has not seen any significant upgrading, coupled with the fact that water bodies were being polluted,” the statement lamented.
It noted further that on October 31, 2012 after several agitations by the chiefs and people of Prestea the company entered into “LOCAL EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT” with the above-mentioned catchment communities.
This agreement, popularly referred to as the “Prof. Daniel Mireku-Gyimah Committee Agreement,” was enacted and signed by the chiefs, opinion leaders, district chief executives and was witnessed under oath by an Accra Fast Track High Court, witnessed by Kweku Y. Painstil.
The residents said the contents of the agreement have all not been duly honoured by authorities of Golden Star Bogoso/Prestea Limited.
It stated that while the company continues to remain defiant to any agreement or social responsibility whatsoever, GSBPL has now become the latest “Senior Galamseyer,” on rampage, destroying water bodies that serve communities within its operational areas.
Two of the communities, the statement mentioned, are Bondaye and Prestea Nakaba. On Saturday, April 1, 2017 the statement asserted that the leadership of Prestea Communities for Development was at the scene of Prestea Nakaba Nsum, where the Unit Committee, Development Committee and Youth of the Community were extremely angry at GSBPL operations in the area.
“Together, the Mining Supervisor, (one Solomon) upon realising the genuine concerns raised by Prestea Communicators for Development, together with the Unit Committee halted mining operations in the area.
At the scene, Chief of the gods, Nana Adu, expressed shock at “Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea) Limited’s refusal to provide potable water to the community as it was agreed when the company came to meet the chiefs,” it added.
The statement went on to explain that Nana Adu stated that the company has honoured its promise of replacing the “house of the gods,” and has built an ultra-modern apartment with modern facilities to house the gods.
Prestea Communicators for Development confirmed this and saw that a bull has even been provided for sacrifice to the gods.
It stressed that what Prestea Communicators for Development, Unit Committee of Nakaba and Nana Adu cannot understand was why the company will “value the gods more than residents of Nakaba.”
The statement revealed that on June 2, 2016 the chiefs, assembly member, unit committee wrote a letter to the company to request for laterite (sand) to fill its football pitch, but the GSBPL did not mind the community.
According to the statement, Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea) Limited has not employed any native in the community.
However, when Today reached the Community Affairs Manager, Mr. Robert Gyenfi, for his reaction, he noted that the claim by the residents that his outfit has polluted their water bodies was not the true reflection on the ground, saying that “we only diverted the water bodies without any health hazard.”
According to him, GSBPL is a law-abiding company which was operating in its catchment communities in respect of the Minerals and Mining Act 703 of the country.
He also discounted the claim by the residents that his company has refused to employ the local people at Prestea Nakaba Nsum, stressing that “we are the only gold mining company which employs local people to work at the haulage section of GSBPL.”
To this end, Mr. Gyenfi called on Ghanaians to disregard the allegations levelled against GSBPL that it has done little to improve social and infrastructure development in Prestea Nakaba Nsum, adding that the allegation was a calculated agenda to soil both local and international reputation of the company.
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