Aggrieved farmers give Newmont one month ultimatum on Ahafo mine

Aggrieved farmers around the Ahafo Mine main dam site of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL) at Kenyasi in the Asutifi North District has given management of the mine a one-month ultimatum to resettle them or face their wrath.

The more than 500 residents at Issifukrom, Akrugukrom, Akonyakrom, Sulekrom and Ayiabakrom claimed the mining company continued to contaminate their source of drinking water in the area.

They said NGGL had constructed a number of boreholes in the area for them but because water from the boreholes was extracted from the dam, it was always polluted.

Mr Moreey Leebi, spokesman for the communities, told newsmen that most of the children and women in the area had developed skin rashes and other “odd” diseases while typhoid fever was also very high.

He alleged that last year two women and a girl in the area died from water borne diseases and persistent appeals they had made to management of the mine to relocate them had proved futile.

Mr Leebi said most of the farmers in the decided to vent their anger on some of the expatriate workers at the mine but the timely intervention by some elders in the villages saved the situation.

He said management of the mine had held several meetings with the farmers over their resettlement and the farmers had become fed up as the mine kept on “deceiving us”.

Mr Kwame Agbeko Azumah, Communication Manager of the mine, said there was no way any faecal matter or dangerous chemical could poison the dam.

He said the company was liaising with the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to resettle them and added that as a multi-national mining company NGGL worked in tandem with international standards especially in its social responsibility programmes.

He said the company had held discussions and sensitized the farmers on the process involved in resettlement but the farmers kept on issuing threats.

Mr Azumah gave the assurance that immediately the EPA and the Minerals Commission complete and approve the resettlement of the residents, the mine would do so.

He appealed to the farmers to be patient and assured them that all modalities involved in the resettlement processes would be completed soon.

Source: GNA