Ghana’s bauxite deposits must be advantageous to nation – Vice-President

The government is putting in place proactive policies and programmes to ensure judicious use of its bauxite resources, the Vice-President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has said.

“Ghana has something that the rest of the world wants. We have bauxite which is not being mined. The rest of the world needs bauxite in a lot of industries, including steel.

From bauxite we get alumina then to aluminum which is used to manufacture many things, such as car parts, airplane parts, medical equipment, many high technology components and for construction,” Alhaji Dr. Bawumia said.

He said after almost hundred (100) years of mining gold, the nation had learnt some hard lessons, stressing that, “bauxite mining will be different.”

Alhaji Dr Bawumia, who was addressing a durbar of the chiefs and people of Nyinahin in the Atwima-Mponua District of the Ashanti Region, said what the nation has done right under the Nana Akufo-Addo-led Administration “is that we mine the bauxite.”

Referring to Ghana’s deal with China under the ‘Sinohydro Master Project Support Agreement’, he said the government has been careful at every stage of this “bauxite for infrastructure deal.”

“Our challenge is to make sure that this exchange is fair to us, that we agree on the quality of the roads, hospitals and schools to be built and that we negotiate with our best.

And that is what we did with our own very capable Ghanaian technical team. We also needed to make sure that we do not damage our environment in the entire chain of the bauxite mining to the refinery stages,” the Vice-President said.

Alhaji Dr Bawumia was in the Region to cut the sod for commencement of work on the 69.51 kilometres Sinohydro road projects within Nyinahin and Sefwi-Wiawso in the Western Region.

Under Ghana’s exchange agreement with the Sinohydro Company of the People’s Republic of China, the latter is to work on the construction and upgrading of some selected roads and interchanges across the country to boost socio-economic activities.

Among the roads in the said package are Nhyinahin town roads, Kwanfifini-Aprenimade feeder road, Mpasatia-Abompey feeder road and Kessekrom-Adiembra feeder road.

The project is being administered in two phases under the Ministry of Roads and Highways with technical support from the Department of Feeder Roads.

Alhaji Dr Bawumia was hopeful that the project would help boost bauxite production and its related activities to enhance the living conditions of the people.

Source: GNA