By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, March 20, GNA – Cardinal Namdini Mining Limited, subsidiary of Shandong Gold, a Chinese mining firm, has refurbished the Upper East Regional Office of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga at a cost of GH₵204,000.00.
The renovation works comprised changing of the roofing, ceiling, washroom facilities, lighting systems, burglar proof, fixing of cracks, repainting of the building, and plumbing works.
The gesture was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to help rebrand the Agency to befit its status as Ghana’s industrial news hub and a preferred source for local and international news.
The Cardinal Namdini Mining Ltd has secured mining lease to venture into large scale gold mining activities in the Talensi District for the next 15 years and is currently investing about one billion dollars in the construction phase.
It is expected to officially start mining in August, 2024.
Handing over the facility to the Management of GNA, Mr Feng Baoli, the Vice President of the Mine, said the company was pleased to be associated with the success story of the Agency and the gesture was to consolidate that relation.
The role of the media in the successful operations of the company and the mining sector in general could not be overemphasized, he noted, and expressed the belief that strengthened working cooperation and relations, particularly with the GNA, was the way to go.
“This is just the beginning because we have not started mining operations yet, we are only in the construction phase but the key thing is to keep this good relationship and we are open to supporting you in any way we can,” he added.
Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, the General Manager, GNA, expressed gratitude to the Management of Cardinal Namdini Mining Ltd for swiftly responding to the Agency’s request to renovate the office.
He expressed optimism that the gesture would help improve news production.
Over the years, the Agency had had good relations with the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, he said, and that the current partnership with the Mine would further consolidate that cooperation.
Mr Owusu noted that inspite of the negative stories that surrounded mining activities by foreigners, particularly at the time the company was venturing into the sector, it had been able to approach its mining activities differently through engagements, community resettlement, and other corporate social responsibilities.
He pledged the Agency’s commitment to supporting interventions and activities that would bring improvement in the lives of Ghanaians while assuring the Mine’s management of balanced news stories towards strengthening the partnership and impacting the country positively.
“We are a responsible Agency that covers the entire country with our reporters and stringers all over the country and one thing people trust GNA for is our credibility,” the General Manager said.
“This is because we have inbuilt system for fact-checking stories before disseminating them to the rest of the world.”
Mrs Hannah Zemp-Tapang, the Upper East Regional Manager of the Agency, commended Cardinal Namdini Mining Ltd for the support and reiterated the office’s open-door policy for continued collaborations to meet the interests of the two parties.
GNA