The Chief Executive Officer for E.K Agyemang Mining Company Limited, a small scale mining firm, Mr Emmanuel Kwabena Agyemang has urged both local and international mining entities to consciously pay back royalties to chiefs of communities they operate their business.
He also advocated for the provision of basic social amenities including the construction of schools, clinics and recreational facilities for these deprived communities in which they do business.
Speaking to the Ghanaian Observer Newspaper after commissioning a GHC 150,000 electricity and mechanized borehole water project for residents of Amadaa, a farming community in Ashanti, Mr Agyemang expressed his commitment to giving back to communities he conducts business.
ADMONITION:
According to him, not only does such gestures give companies good name but it portrayed to the community the humaneness of that particular entity.
He stressed mining companies needed to show they cared about the inhabitants of the communities they work by providing them with development infrastructure.
”Not only should mining companies be interested in the gold or treasures they find in the communities they operate but rather invest consciously in the lives of the people in that particular community”, Mr E.K Agyemang noted with passion.
He added, ‘we should first be concerned about the welfare of the residents in the communities we work so as to derive the maximum support and collaboration from them’
MINERALS COMMISSION:
Speaking at the commissioning earlier, Mr Tony Aubyn, Chief Executive for the Minerals Commission expressed delight about the decision by E.K Agyemang to single-handedly connect the Amadaa town to the national electricity grid.
According to him, it showed the commitment of the mining company to give back to the community which provided him opportunity to conduct his business.
He called on other local and foreign companies to follow suit even as they conduct clean mining in their respective concessions and territories.
He mentioned the provision of electricity would provide the people of Amadaa the opportunity to engage in ventures that would enhance their living conditions.
He disclosed the Minerals Commission would soon register all mining companies in the country despite their size, adding the measure was to properly regulate the companies and to ensure they to do clean mining.
CHIEF:
In his succinct remarks, the Odikro of Amadaa, Nana Oteng Mensah thanked E.K Agyemang Company for the gesture and promised to support the activities of the company for their mutual benefit.
He urged other mining companies to periodically give back to the communities they work, adding royalties due the local authorities should also be paid in time to ensure the provision of basic amenities by the chiefs and elders.
Nana implored mining firms not to pollute water bodies in the areas they mine since it was the very source of life for members of the community.
