ADAMUS TO RESETTLE 2,000 (BACK PAGE , MAY 7, 2010)

TWO thousand people who are likely to be affected by the mining activities of the Adamus Resources Limited, operators of the Nzema Gold Project at Nkroful in the Ellembelle District in the Western Region, are to be resettled.
The company has acquired 150 acres to build 700 houses to provide alternative accommodation to the people of Salman, a community located near the company’s gold processing plant.
The operations of the processing plant can endanger the health and well-being of the community.
The Resettlement Manager of Adamus Resources Limited, Dr Stephen Yirenkyi, made this known at a ceremony during which the management of Jesus Open Doors Limited, General contractors for Adamus, presented a brand new 30-seater Nissan Civilian bus to the people of Salman.
The bus, worth GH¢113,000, is intended for the people to run commercial transport to finance their development projects.
According to Dr Yirenkyi, earth works at the resettlement site had been completed and that work on the project is expected to start by the middle of this month.
He said the company would come up with a resettlement scheme that would improve the living conditions of people in the community, adding that the company had very good plans for the people in the area.
Dr Yirenkyi explained that resettlement did not only mean the construction of new houses for the affected community, but also to ensure the social and economic resettlement towards a change in the socio-economic lives of the affected people.
He said the company was using local contractors to enhance their economic empowerment, since there was wisdom in it, adding that the company would also be environmentally responsible in all its operations.
The District Chief Executive for Ellembelle, Mr Daniel Kemambeku Eshun, said local contractors would perform very well when given the chance.
He said he would continue to be an advocate for the use of local contractors by the mining companies for most of their operations.
Mr Eshun called on the mining companies to assist the local contractors to build their capacity for them to live up to expectation when given the chance.
The Chief Executive Officer of Jesus Open Doors Limited, Mr Francis Coffie, said he would use part of the proceeds of every contract he executed in the community to assist the people of the Ellembelle District in their developmental activities.