Goldfields devotes $2.2m for eight mining communities
Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Mines, has devoted $2.2 million for community development programs this year.
Among the areas to benefit are agriculture, education, health, water and sanitation and micro enterprise.
Mr Mubashir T. Dari, Community Affairs Manager of the Company, said the company had estimated the production of 760,000 ounces of gold and a profit of 76,000 dollars to support development projects in its catchment communities.
Mr Dari said this at a consultative committee meeting at Tarkwa, which brought together departmental heads and assembly members from the Tarkwa-Nsueam Municipality and Prestea Huni-Valley District.
Yaw Britwum Opoku, Public Affairs Superintendent, said on agriculture, the company would monitor farms under the Sustainable Empowerment and Economic Development Programme (SEED) and also adopt strategies to hand over agric businesses to community members to ensure sustainability.
On education and health, he said, infrastructure would be constructed at the eight catchment communities adding that inter school quiz competition, support for teachers, scholarships and bursaries would be made available to brilliant but needy students.
He said community apprenticeship programme for auto mechanics, electricians, hairdressers and bulldozer operators would be introduced later this year.
Mr Opoku recalled that for the past five years, Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Mines, had spent 13.137 million dollars on projects covering education, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and micro enterprise.
He said the company spent 3,209 million dollars on education, which topped all the other sectors representing 31 per cent with the health sector taking 1,145 million dollars representing 12 per cent.
Mr Opoku said some of the projects the company executed included rehabilitation of the New Atuabo Town roads, Akoon main road, construction of drainage system for Brahabebom Junior High School and teachers quarters at New Atuabo and Abekoase Agriculture Business schools, Pepesa Upper Primary School block and New Atuabo Junior High School.
He said 236 students have benefited from the scholarship scheme of which 93 students had completed.
With the bursary, Mr Opoku disclosed that out of the 124 beneficiaries, 84 were from Junior High School, 10 from vocational schools and 30 were at the tertiary level.
Madam Gifty Kusi, Member of Parliament for Tarkwa Nsueam, appealed to Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Mines to complete all major works on the Tarkwa-Nsueam Assembly (TNA) Park instead of opting to handle parts of the pavilion.
The Corporate Affairs Manager, Madam Pamela Djamson-Tetteh, said based on a meeting held with the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Goldfields Ghana Limited decided to allow other stakeholders to assist with the rest of the works at the TNA Park to enable the whole community to own it.
Source: GNA