Ensuring the livelihood of local communities...GOLDEN STAR SETS UP PLANTATIONS (PAGE 20)

EVERY mining company, particularly those into gold mining, needs the support of the people living within the communities in which it is located to enable it operate smoothly and peacefully.
As a result of this, establishment of cordiAal relations between a mining company and stakeholder communities is very crucial, and anything short of this is likely to disturb the peace and the smooth operations of the company.
Some years back, Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea) Limited, a gold mining company in the Western Region, experienced a number of violent confrontations emanating from residents of the mining communities as a result of environmental and developmental issues the people complained about, and that resulted in a sour relationship between the two entities.
To forestall cohesion and create a better co-existence between the company and the people, the company had to provide some social amenities for the community, but even that did not satisfy the community.
However, in April, 2006, the management of the company decided to promote development of oil palm plantations in its mining communities by using the smallholder concept, in partnership with the traditional authorities.
The traditional authorities have pledged a total of 14,000 hectares for the project and have so far released 9,800 hectares, while about 487 hectares of the oil palm plantation has been developed for selected farmers in the host communities.
The communities include Bogoso, Akyempim, Chujah and Maase-Nsuta. At Bogoso, a 275-hectare oil palm plantation has been established and allocated four hectares each to 69 smallholder farmers in the community.
To ensure the effective management of the oil palm plantations, Golden Star Oil Palm Plantation Limited (GSOPP), a limited liability company, has been formed to see to the day-to-day activities of the farmers.
The cardinal objectives of the company are to develop a sustainable alternative livelihood project for the communities as a result of contributions from mining, reduce poverty through employment generation, as well as wealth creation through sustainable agri-business.
The GSOPP solicits land from the traditional authorities who offer their land to become partners of the scheme, and in collaboration with the chiefs, smallholder farmers are selected to participate as beneficiaries to the scheme, while the GSOPP provides funds for the development of the plantations through the Golden Star Resource (GSR) Foundation and other development partners.
Briefing the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Science and Technology on the activities of the gold mining company and how it affects the host communities, the General Manager of Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea) Limited Mr Nigel Tamlyn explained that the cost of the plantation development was treated as loans to the smallholder farmers.
He said GSOPP had collaborated with the plantations industry such as the Benso Oil Palm Plantations (BOPP) as partners for the marketing of the produce and the needed expertise.
By this concept of partnership, he said the major issues of land tenure, associated with large-scale developments in the country, were eliminated.
According to Mr Tamlyn, the GSOPP would develop a successful community-based and sustainable alternative livelihood project that would positively impact on the communities.
He said it would develop over 5,000 hectares of oil palm with the appropriate processing facility in the mining communities which would generate over 4,000 direct jobs and that the ripple effect would result in over 10,000 beneficiaries from all the catchment areas.
This, he noted, would ultimately reduce the need for people to embark on illegal mining activities.
The Executive Director of GSOPP, Mrs Mary Ankomah Boakye-Boateng, explained that a five-member board and a management team had been put in place to manage the plantations.
She explained that even though Golden Star was funding the project, the people in the communities owned the plantations, adding that it was the main alternative livelihood project of the people.
Mrs Boakye-Boateng said a memorandum of understanding (MOU) had been signed with Unilever Ghana to assist in the development of the plantations.