GMC COMMITS GH¢160,000 FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (PAGE 22)

THE Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) Limited has committed GH¢160,000 as its community assistance budget for 2008/09 to finance various development projects within the Esuaso Divisional Stool Council in the company’s operational area of Western Region.
Since 2002 when the first community assistance budget of GH¢50,000 was presented to the chiefs and people in the 16 communities, there has been a significant growth of the budget to GH¢130,000 last year.
The company has so far spent a total of GH¢550,000 within the last six years to provide many infrastructural projects for the stakeholder communities.
They include the completion of six new school blocks, the renovation of another one, the provision of eight aqua toilet facilities, four markets and a community library, as well as the provision of agro processing machines for two communities, while many other projects are still under construction.
The GMC has also spent GH¢125,000 as bursaries to 2,180 students from the area, while out of the current budget, a total of GH¢40,780 has been approved to be shared as bursaries among 568 students from the 16 communities.
The Managing Director of the GMC, Mr Jurgen Eijgendaal, who presented the budget at Wassa Nsuta in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, emphasised that substantial funds had also been spent outside the scope of the assistance budget for the construction of a new tarred road and a drainage system.
He said the ongoing transformation of the Nsuta Hospital was bringing improvement in the health delivery system in the communities.
Mr Eijgendaal noted that in areas where there was sound co-operation and communication, good results were achievable.
“With the Esuaso Divisional Stool Council, we have created the right forum to obtain sustainable development in our catchment area,“ he stated.
The managing director explained that the idea of establishing an interactive community relations programme by unifying the various communities into one community had proven to be an improved and effective form of dialogue.
Mr Eijgendaa said in line with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as well as the Ghana Chamber of Mines guidelines, sustainable development had recently become an integral part of doing business.
Mr Eijgendaal said the GMC had at an early stage identified the need for harmonious co-existence by building good neighbouring relationships with all its communities.
He stated that “the concept of working with a stool council has been proven to be more effective and transparent than communicating with the various traditional players on a sheer individual basis as it was the case in the past”.
Mr Eijgendaal said the Esuaso Divisional Stool Council had been firmly embodied as the main tool to provide sustainable development projects to all its members.
The Tarkwa/Nsuaem Municipal Chief Executive, Mr George Mireku Duker, emphasised that the initiative of the GMC to present its community assistance budget to the public was a clear manifestation of the company’s firm commitment to provide the communities in its catchment area with basic social amenities and sustainable alternative livelihood projects as part of its social responsibilities.
“I will, therefore, urge the management of GMC to ensure the sustenance of this laudable initiative, and also endeavour to involve the chiefs and opinion leaders in the selection of projects and other interventions, which would go a long way to improve the lot of their people,” he stressed.
Mr Duker noted that it was only when such a rapport was established that society would appreciate the need to peacefully co-exist with mining concerns for mutual benefit.
The Banmuhene of the Esuaso Divisional Council, Nana Kofi Appiah, expressed gratitude to the management of the GMC for the yearly community assistance budget as well as the award of bursaries to the beneficiary students to pursue further studies.
He gave the assurance that the chiefs would encourage the beneficiary students to learn hard to justify the establishment of the award scheme.
The Chief Executive of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ms Joyce Aryee, said it was so wonderful that the partnership between the GMC and the communities had lasted, adding, “Where there is no peace, development will be very difficult or impossible.”
She, therefore, urged the chiefs to ensure the maintenance of law and order in their areas of authority at all times.