Some of the chiefs present
Chiefs of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council in the Western Region have resolved to demonstrate against the government if it renews the mining lease of Gold Fields Ghana Limited’s Tarkwa mine.
They argued that after 30 years of operations in the traditional area, the mining company has not brought development proportional to the environmental impact and the profits it has accrued.
Consequently, the chiefs have called on the government to hand over the concession in Tarkwa to an indigenous local entrepreneur upon the expiration of the lease next year.
“We believe that the government ought to listen to the chiefs of this area, but if it goes ahead and renews the mining lease, we will organise a massive demonstration against the government,” the chiefs emphasised.
It would be recalled that traditional leaders of the Apinto Divisional Council also recently urged the government not to renew the mining lease of the South African company.
The Apinto chiefs, on whose land the company resides, argued that after nearly three decades of large-scale mining operations, local communities have not received benefits that match the extent of the extraction.
At their general meeting yesterday, the Wassa Fiase chiefs also endorsed replacing the management of the mine with a Ghanaian-owned mining firm to increase local wealth retention and shared prosperity.
The general meeting was held to discuss, among other things, development and land-related issues in the traditional area.
At the meeting, majority of the divisional chiefs, including the Queen Mother of the Wassa Fiase Traditional Council, Nana Abena Konadjoa II, proposed that the concessions on which Gold Fields operates should be handed over to an indigenous firm.
Nana Abena Konadjoa II expressed strong hope that a local firm would manage the mine well and deliver the community development projects residents deserve.
She praised Damang Gold Mine Limited—a local mining company that has taken over Gold Fields’ Damang mine—for fast-tracking development projects, job creation, and community investments.
“I recently inspected the road the company is constructing from Damang to Cape Coast and the airport which is under construction, and you can realise that the local firm is doing well within this short period,” she noted.
Chief of Memamomo in the traditional area, Nana Kobina Gyan II, refuted allegations that someone is instigating the chiefs to fight Gold Fields.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Tarkwa