GRi
Business, Economics & Finance 01 – 11 - 2002
Nkawie
(Ashanti Region)
They said
the all their stool lands were under mining concessions and that the mining
companies were destroying their land indiscriminately, thereby creating social,
environmental, economic, health and spiritual problems for the people.
The
petition named the companies as Bonte Gold Mines
Limited, Lost Valley Mining Company, Abu Amponsa
Company, King Midas Company, Jenin River Mines, E.K.
Agyemang Group and Nyameye Mines.
The
petitioners called on the government to suspend any further concessions and
operations of mining companies on their degraded land as a matter of urgency
and assess the extent of damage and harm they continue to cause to the people
of Mpatuam and the country and determine the necessary
and befitting compensation to the people.
This, the
petitioners contend, will mitigate the negative impact the operations of the
mining companies have on the people for now and the future.
They
catalogued a number of difficulties brought upon them by the activities of the
mining companies and said serious pollution had been caused to water bodies and
the aquatic life and said rivers Bonte and Jenin, which used to serve as main sources of drinking
water had been destroyed.
''Now there
is water rationing at Mpatuam from the few boreholes
existing before these mining companies started operating and that the companies
have made no attempt to provide potable water for us to alleviate our
sufferings,'' they contend.
They also
mentioned dangers posed to their lives by the digging of deep dams and ponds by
the mining companies which had been left uncovered and which serve as breeding
grounds for mosquitoes.
''Large
hectares of cocoa farms have been destroyed and are still being destroyed. Mpatuam, once a leading cocoa producer in the district,
cannot boast of this prestige,'' the alleged.
The
petitioners alleged that ''proper and meaningful compensation'' has not been
paid to the people. The mining companies unilaterally determined what should be
paid without the involvement of the people and the Valuation Board as
stipulated by law.''
The
petitioners said the human rights of the people were constantly violated
anytime they spoke freely on issues of serious concern affecting them and
alleged that the mining companies used the military and the police to subject
them to inhuman treatment.
However,
when Mr James Peprah Sarpong,
Administrative and Personnel Officer of the Bonte
Gold Mines Limited, was contacted, he described the petition as frivolous, malicious
and without an iota of truth.
He said the
company had been of immense help to the Mpatuam
community and its environs in the provision of social amenities.
Mr Sarpong said the company employs a permanent staff of 400
while seasonal work brought in another 200 at any particular period and that
each employee, spouse and up to six dependants enjoy free medical care under a
health insurance scheme paid for by the company and that currently over 3,000
individuals are covered.
He said the
company had kept the road from Nkawie to Jeninso to Akaniase, a distance
of 30 kilometres constantly maintained over the past
10 years and it rehabilitated the Adobewura to Amangoase feeder road to link the Bibiani
road at the cost of 20 million cedis.
Mr Sarpong said five years ago the company constructed a
21-kilometres high-tension electricity line from Moseaso
to Mpatuam at the cost of about 800,000 dollars and
that the routing was deliberately chosen to benefit six villages.
The line
had since been extended to Bonteso, enabling about 10
villages to qualify for the provision of power under the Self-Help
Electrification Programme (SHEP).
He said
under an agreement with Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the company paid
for the provision of power to Aboabo and Tetrem and that today under the SHEP programme, Essuowin, Ahwerewa and Esaase had been hooked onto the national grid while Bonteso, the nearest village to the plant had been provided
with street lights.
The
company, Mr Sarpong said, also assisted with the maintenance
of potable water systems in the area and made a contribution to the Esaase water project and recently sunk five boreholes in
five villages on the Jenin mining lease at the cost
of 160 million cedis.
He said the
communities looked to the company to provide jobs for every youth and to
undertake every development project, power, water, schools and clinics which
was not possible and said the aspirations of the people made them perceive the
company as not being helpful, thereby bringing about strained relations.
Mr Yaw Adu, a Director of King Midras
Company and Mr E.K. Agyemang of Agyemang Group, when contacted, refuted the
allegations and said all the mined areas had been reclaimed and adequate
compensation approved by the Land Valuation Board duly paid to the deserving
farmers, while they had been supportive of the communities in the provision of
amenities.
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Accra
(Greater Accra) 01 November 2002- Vice President Aliu Mahama on Thursday said
Ghana would fully support all activities toward the adoption of a monetary
union for West Africa to facilitate trade and movement for the socio-economic
benefit of the 250 million people in the Sub-region.
Vice
President Mahama said this when he received Mr Mory Kaba, Secretary of State for Cooperation of Guinea, at the
Castle, Osu, who presented an invitation from Guinean
President Lansana Conte, to the Summit of Heads of
State of the Second Monetary Zone, West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), to be
held on 7 November in Conakry.
Vice
President Mahama said
He recalled
the Eighth Convergence Council of Ministers and Governors of the West African
Monetary Zone Meeting in
The
decision to adopt a West African Monetary Zone as part of the ECOWAS effort to
introduce a Single Monetary Zone by 2004 was made at a meeting of Heads of
State of six West African countries two years ago in
With the
Monetary Union, resources in the Sub-region would be pooled to create a larger
regional market, increase trade, significantly improve domestic and foreign
direct investment and create more jobs that would lead to a higher standard of
living.
Mr Kaba stressed the importance of the
Presidents
John Agyekum Kufuor, Yahya Jammeh
of The Gambia, Lansana Conte of
Others
attending the
The
Convergence
criteria for members include the achievement of single digit inflation by 2003,
a foreign exchange reserve covering imports for not less than three months.
Additionally,
their budget deficit to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) should be less than
five percent, while their Central Banks credit to their governments should be
less than 10 percent of the previous year's tax revenue. None of the countries
have fully met the convergence criteria. Though, the
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The
Initiative is intended to persuade people living in cocoa growing areas along
the borders to support government combat cocoa smuggling, which is contributing
to the shortfall in cocoa production.
At a
ceremony at Burma Camp attended by the various security agencies and
stakeholders Dr Addo Kufuor said records available
indicated that
He said
this shortfall estimated at about 510 billion cedis would have provided many
clinics, feeder roads, boreholes and classroom blocks for deprived communities
along the country's borders.
Dr Addo Kufuor noted that the activities of professional
smugglers who cart large quantities of cocoa beans across the border
contributed to the problem since such large volumes could not be carried in
small quantities on the heads of individual smugglers.
He
identified other factors contributing to the problem as delays in the disposal
of cases involving smuggling in the law courts, the cocoa purchasing system,
which was fraught with inefficiency and corruption and the poor road networks
within cocoa growing areas that hinder smooth transportation to marketing centres.
Other
factors are the differentials in the producer price of cocoa in
Dr Addo Kufuor said to minimise the
smuggling of cocoa, suitable incentives would be given to the chiefs and people
living in the border areas to ensure they cooperated fully with COCOBOD and
security agencies in the war.
As part of
the initiative, any community that would effectively participate in the
exercise resulting in significant reduction of cocoa smuggling would receive
additional incentives that would include COCOBOD providing school uniforms, stationary
and pencils for needy pupils in the target area.
Additionally,
one-third of the proceeds which would be recovered from smugglers would be paid
to such a community in line with the existing proportion used by the Customs,
Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS).
The CEPS
Management Law, PNDC Law 330, 1993, states: "The Commissioner may reward
from the general revenue any person who informs him of any offence against this
law or assists in the recovery of any penalty."
Dr Addo Kufuor said COCOBOD should support efforts by the
Department of Feeder Roads in re-gravelling or re-shaping roads in communities
along the borders to enable cocoa to be swiftly evacuated.
He appealed
to COCOBOD to expedite action to collect data on farm size, location of cocoa
farms and annual output of farmers, especially those in border areas for
expected produce to be quantified and the necessary support given.
The
Minister suggested that subject to the availability of logistical resources,
COCOBOD should also purchase available beans at any time of the year.
He said as
part of incentives to curb smuggling, COCOBOD would pay a pre-season bonus to
cocoa farmers this year and government would be engaged in the spraying of
farms to help improve yield.
Dr Addo Kufuor urged the security agencies and local
communities to participate in the anti-smuggling activities, saying that the
launch would be followed by durbars in the Brong Ahafo, Western and the
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Akwatia
(Eastern Region)
He said the
delay in selling the company was caused by the failure of prospective companies
to patronise the programme.
Mr.
Adjei-Darko said this when he met workers of GCD at the company's premises at Akwatia in the Eastern Region and revealed that Mard'Gold, a
He appealed
to the workers to put in their best to prevent the company from sinking further
and asked the management team of GCD to bring proposals on how beat to keep the
place running.
The
Minister said there was the need to streamline activities of people who had
leased portions of GCD's land.
He said
such people had to be granted concessions after they had applied. Their
applications would go through the GCD board to the Minerals Commission. The
ministry would act on the commission's recommendation.
Mr James Lemaire, General Manager of the Company, said the area
being mined by the Company had been declared non-economic. He said the lack of
appropriate machines and equipment had prevented them from going for economic
concessions. "Our financial position is not favourable."
Mr Joseph
Godson, Board Chairman of GCD, said the main problem facing the company was
illegal mining. He said the Company's land is so vast that it could not be
monitored effectively.
In 1988,
studies by Sofre Mines, a French firm, led to
recommendations that GCD be divested. In 1991, INCO Ltd, a Canadian company, operated
under an interim management agreement for 18 months but failed to purchase the
company at the end of the period.
In 1994, De
Beers of
In 1999,
another sub-committee was set up over the divestiture of the GCD, leading to Mard'Gold, a
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Writers
(NALWERS) have decided to pay about four billion cedis monthly income tax with
effect from
This was a
resolution passed by the Association at an emergency meeting in
In order to
achieve the expected target, the Association entreated all lotto agents and
writers throughout the country to be alive to their civic responsibilities to
register and pay the prescribed monthly tax of 4,000 cedis per member.
Mr Mark Bosompem, acting national chairman of NALWERS dilating on
the need to assist government to generate funds for national development said
lotto agents and writers, like any other citizen owed it a duty to contribute
to national development.
He stated
that, to ensure effective collection of the tax, members are to pay their
monthly taxes in their respective areas through their districts for onward
transmission to their regional offices.
Mr Bosompem gave the assurance that the present executive of
the Association would account for all monies collected and implored members to
desist from using plain sheets as coupons instead of the approved VAT booklets.
The
Association also resolved to appoint a committee to meet with Mr Stephen Asare, the largest lotto operator to negotiate with him to
pay all winning arrears owed to his agents.
Mr A. K.
Boa-Amponsem, Greater Accra Regional Chairman urged
members to be committed to the Association and refuse to allow any tendencies
to divide their ranks, adding, "there has been long-standing allegations
of non-payment, often by lotto writers and agents over the years.
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