MINEWORKERS Union at the Future Global Resources (FGR), Prestea Underground Mines formerly known as Golden Star Resources (GSR) in the Western Region have demonstrated against the lack of transparency and unfair treatment.
Members of the Union chanted and carried placards with several inscriptions embossed on them as a way of getting their voices heard and considered by management.
‘Invisible’ Owners
In an interview with DGN, the General Secretary for the Union, Samuel Kumi said one of the key motives for the demonstration was the lack of transparency over who owned the facility.
He said as of October 2020, there was a press release that the mine had been sold to FGR. However, they do not see officials of the alleged new owners operating the mines.
“Currently as we speak, we don’t see officials of FGR operating the mines. We only hear of Blue Holdings or Blue International Group who writes memos and letters [to us]. So we want the leadership of [the company] to come and tell us who is the owner of this mine”, he stated.
No Investment
Mr Kumi also disclosed that the alleged new managers of the company since taking over in October last year had not made any investments in the facility contrary to what they were promised.
“When the mine was sold, we were told that the new company was going to invest in the mine. However, as we speak now, not a single dime has been invested into the facility”, he said, adding that they [the workers union] want to know whether they [the new owners] were serious about operating the mine.
“You can’t sell a mine that is said to have the largest concession in the whole of Ghana which stretches about 80 kilometres of resources from Tweapim to Mampong and the new owner not invested a single dollar in it since October.
We want to know what is happening because you can’t operate a mine without investment”, he buttressed.
Severance Package
Mr Kumi also lamented the lack of severance package for workers who were affected by the change of ownership of the mines.
He revealed that the severance package for the workers has not been paid since October last year and that all efforts to get management to do the needful had proven futile as they were being tossed between GSR and FGR.
“For permanent workers, we are talking about severance. When the mine was sold, permanent workers were left behind with their severance packages not paid.
You go to GSR and they say they are not the ones to pay. You come to FGR and they tell you the same thing. We want to know how and when they are going to pay our severance for us”, he stated.
Safety
“There are so many other issues that bother on the safety of the mine that we want to be addressed as soon as possible because we don’t want fatalities and other eventualities happenings at other mines to befall us here.
There are also so many safety infractions that we want leadership to address for us”, Mr Kumi added.
By Nii Adjei Mensahfio