Salema (W/R), April 09, GNA-Stakeholders in the mining industry have agreed on a roadmap for Community Mining activities on Adamus concessions as part of measures to find solutions to conflicts and clashes.
These clashes have characterized the operations of the Adamus Mining Company and the communities in which it operated.
The move has become necessary following galamsey activities on Adamus concessions which had led to the arrest and prosecutions of illegal miners and sometimes resulted in the deaths of some illegal miners and innocent lives.
That became known at a round table conference when a six-member delegation of the Parliamentary Select Committee paid a visit to meet the Management of the Adamus Mining Company and other stakeholders at Salema in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
The visit followed the shooting incident at the Nkroful Magistrate Court on April 01, 2022, when a section of the youth besieged the forecourt of the court during the trial of some illegal miners on Adamus concessions and subsequently vandalized property at the Esiama Divisional Police Station.
The Vice-Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, Mr Elvis Morris Donkor said with their interactions so far with the management of Adamus and Chiefs from affected communities such as Anwia, Teleku-Bokazo and Salema, the committee was certain of a solution where everyone benefits from the communities and Adamus company.
He said the Parliamentary Select Committee would engage the two parties, adding that the communities want Community Mining for their people.
“The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has already started doing that, so all that we have to do is to engage more with the Ministry, engage more with the Lands Commission and also with Adamus which is willing to release a portion of land for the community mining.”
Mr Donkor said as a community, they wanted to see better relations between them and the Adamus company and what they want from the company.
He asked Adamus Mines to release the land for the Community Mining but urged the youth to halt the galamsey activities until the Lands Commission and the Ministry of Mines took time to do the documentation.
A Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee Mr John Abu Jinapor said the Committee had fruitful deliberations with the Adamus Company and chiefs as well.
He said: “Our first observation as a committee is to appeal to both sides to exercise maximum restraint, adding that without peace and harmony, we simply can’t solve any problem.”
He thanked the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah who is also a member of the committee, for his pioneering role in laying the issues bare before the Parliamentary Select Committee for redress.
Mr Jinapor said the committee would invite the sector minister, the Minerals Commission and security agencies and see how “we can beef up security here, improve on communication, improve intelligence and Sensitization in the communities.”
The MP for Ellembelle, Mr Buah said the committee condemned completely the lawlessness that happened at all levels.
He said: “The problem is that we have to work collectively with Adamus to ensure that these painful deaths of young people do not happen again.”
He called for a thorough investigation to ensure that justice prevailed because “every life is important.”
Mr Buah charged the management of Adamus to work to ensure that the critical issues of the community were resolved in a peaceful manner to avert any revolving violence so as not to create the impression that “Adamus is a war zone.”
“This is a district that is excited to have businesses here We are going to do everything to support and protect them, we are going to ensure that there is a balancing act, and the community must win in these mining operations.
“There has to be a Win-Win for everybody; it can’t be one-sided,” Mr Buah said.
The MP advised the chiefs on the things that must be done to ensure that the youth of the area understood that the law was important and that even when “we have strong grievances that we are fighting for, we have to do that within the law.”
Mr Buah said just as the Police was investigating the vandalism at the Esiama Divisional Police Station, the police command must also investigate what led to the killing of Mr Andrews Donkor as well as the needs of the communities.
Mr Patrick Kpekpena, the Managing Director at the Adamus Mines Company, admitted that the company had fruitful deliberations with the stakeholders and made presentations about challenges in the area, especially with the communities.
He said the company had committed to the process of finding a lasting solution to the problem.
Mr Kpekpena said Adamus had no hand in what happened at the court as the issue was directly between the groups from the communities and security agencies of the state.
He said the company was considering a Community Mining scheme and would follow the same steps and processes to arrive at a decision.
“It is a process, and it is not just within the control of Adamus. We will wait for an application from the communities to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and later engage us and the process will go on.
Mr Kwasi Bonzoh, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Ellembelle, said before the incident, the company had agreed on a common location, where the community would be given to Mine.
He said it was left with the Assembly to put in an application to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources through the Minerals Commission on behalf of the communities.
“We will work together with the chiefs to ensure that due process is taken place for the Community Mining to be launched.”
Mr Bonzo added that “currently, the chiefs have requested for Adamus pits where “galamsey” operations are ongoing, so we are going to apply for the location to push for the processes.
GNA