MDF Supports Mining Communities

Dr. Noriss Hammah

The Minerals Development Fund (MDF) is supporting a number of projects in mining communities to improve the standard of living of the people.

The fund has already disbursed more than five million cedis to fund various projects in 16 mining districts in the country as at end of October 2020.

The MDF Act was passed by the government in 2016 as a comprehensive attempt to guide the spending mineral royalties that accrued to the state.

It controls about 20 per cent of mineral royalties for development projects and other initiatives in the mining communities.

The MDF Secretariat has therefore established Mining Community Development Schemes at the local level to facilitate the socioeconomic of mining communities and those affected by mining operations.

The Administrator of the MDF Secretariat, Dr. Noriss Hammah, disclosed this at the opening of a two-day training workshop for the local committee members in the Western Region.

The workshop was organized in collaboration with the West Africa Governance and Economic Sustainability in Extractive Areas (WAGES), and participants came from the Ellembelle, Prestea Huni-Valley, Wassa East and Tarkwa-Nsuaem districts.

It was among other things to enhance the capabilities of all the Local Management Committees on how to make judicious use of the funds allocated.

Dr. Hammah advised the participants to ensure prudent use of financial resources and also ensure that they went in for cost-benefit and viable projects.

He indicated that the MDF was mandated to work with district assemblies and traditional authorities, and announced that in the year 2020 about GH¢65,000 out of GH¢100,000 trickled down to the mining communities.

He said for the second phase, an additional seven million cedis would be disbursed but added that the projects to be embarked on must serve the needs and aspirations of the local communities.

He mentioned that the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) in Tarkwa had benefitted from nine projects from the MDF including the new administrative block and the School of Petroleum Studies.

Dr. Steve Manteaw, of the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) explained that disbursement of mineral royalties from the central government to the mining areas were not regular.

“Because if the situation, certain projects earmarked to be funded by the mineral royalties delay,” he said.

“So in 2016 government decided to back the disbursement of the mineral royalties by law, hence the creation of the MDF,” he added.

From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi