By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Talensi (U/E), Sept. 07, GNA – The Cardinal Namdini Mining Ltd (CNML) has reaffirmed its commitment towards ensuring responsible mining practices, stronger stakeholder engagement and sustainable development for host communities and beyond.
To this end, the Company has already initiated discussions with established institutions including the Talensi Traditional Council and the Talensi District Assembly on a Social Responsibility Agreement (SRA), to ensure that its mining operations contribute to sustainable development in the host communities and beyond.
The disclosure comes in response to a petition by the Talensi Mining Communities Initiative (TAMCI), which raised concerns over poor resettlement and compensation, denial of employment opportunities, lack of stakeholder engagement, and environmental degradation.
TAMCI, a pressure group in the area also demanded that the Mining Company enter into a Social Responsibility Agreement with them and form a governance structure for sustainable community-company relationship.
They also demanded the dismissal of some staff of the mining company over their indulgence in malpractices.
However, in a letter signed by Qi Xuanya, the Vice President, CNML, and addressed to the Group, it said while it valued TAMCI’s concerns, it was already working with recognised traditional and local government structures, to put in place a Social Responsibility Agreement that would guide social responsibility, employment, and a development fund for the benefit of project-affected communities.
CNML urged TAMCI to align its proposals with those of the Traditional Council and District Assembly, noting that their objectives were “basically the same.”
The letter stressed that CNML could not dictate community representation in such matters, adding that nationally recognised institutions were best placed to lead on behalf of communities.
The CNML also dismissed allegations of misconduct by its employees stating that the company after investigation found the allegations as “unsubstantiated or lack of evidence and unfounded”.
At a media briefing, Mr Kofi Adusei, the Community and Social Responsibility Manager, CNML, rejected claims of poor resettlement, saying the Biung and Accra Site projects were executed in accordance with the Minerals and Mining (Resettlement and Compensation) Regulations, 2012 (L.I. 2175), and international best practice.
“Contrary to your assertions, an independent valuation firm, Property Appraisal and Investment Consult, conducted a thorough valuation of all affected properties, ensuring compensation was based on comprehensive assessments and industry practice,” he said.
He said the resettlement projects ended in July 2022, provided 123 modern residential houses with kitchens, bathrooms, toilets, Aluzinc roofs, burglar-proof fittings, and ceiling fans.
Other facilities included two schools with libraries, canteens, and playgrounds; 15 teachers’ quarters; two health centres with nurses’ quarters; 10 boreholes; chiefs’ palaces; a church and mosque; waste disposal systems; electricity; and roads with drainage and street lighting.
He said CNML also facilitated the transportation of affected families to their new homes, provided transition allowances, farm tools, fertilizers, tractors, and technical services to restore livelihoods, and rolled out a vulnerable assistance programme, after which the affected persons expressed appreciation in a letter in August 2022.
On the issue of jobs, he disclosed that the company had so far employed 2,135 workers and out of that number 94 per cent were Ghanaians, with 50 per cent of the 94 coming from the Upper East Region and majority of that number coming from the Talensi District.
“To further support local employment from the project area, the company has facilitated the establishment of Community Employment Committees (CECs) in all the seven immediate host communities, within the mining lease and a centralised committee at the Talensi Traditional Council for the rest of the communities in the project district,” it said.
The CNML denied partisan bias in its recruitment processes, adding that while skilled labour positions were advertised nationally and through the CECs, semi-skilled and unskilled jobs were sourced directly from the communities and added that the process was transparent and based on merit.
It therefore rejected TAMCI’s call to dissolve existing CECs, arguing that the committees were formed by traditional leaders and not the mining company.
He said the company’s waste disposal practices complied fully with applicable regulations, with strict monitoring systems to minimise impacts, and pledged to maintain transparency in addressing environmental issues and expressed readiness to provide documentation to prove its compliance.
The CNML, a subsidiary of Shandong Gold, a Chinese mining firm is currently undertaking open cast (surface) gold mining activities in the Talensi District for an initially lifespan of 15 years.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/ Christabel Addo