Daily Heritage December 15

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DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2017
Probe Gold Fields Ghana ‘Contract Mining’ exercise
ON WEDNESDAY, December 13, the
Ghana Mineworkers Union of the Ghana
Trade Union Congress held a National
Executive Committee (NEC) meeting,
which is the highest decision making body
apart from its National Delegates Conference,
which occurs after every four-year
term.
At the highly attended meeting, so
many sensitive issues came up and they arrived
at petitioning the leadership of Parliament
over a lay-off exercise since the
matter has a national connotation.
The concern of these mineworkers are
that the management of Gold Fields
Ghana is currently pursuing a radical business
option dubbed “Contract Mining”,
which, according to them, has the propensity
of threatening the jobs of over 1700
workers.
Among their concerns were also that
the GFG’s choice of this aggressive option
is attributed to two cardinal reasons,
namely the short life span of the Mine and
secondly the aging fleet of the machines.
These two reasons they said were false
and without any basis. Therefore among
the measures they adopted was for them
to take a legal descision.
Now, yesterday, a day after that NEC
meeting, they have presented a petition to
Parliament, drawing its attention to the development
and are asking the leadership
of the house to probe the matter.
In their petition to Parliament yesterday,
they stated that GFG’s own official
website stated that Tarkwa Gold Mine is a
“world-class, low-cost surface mine with a
6.1Moz Mineral Reserve and 15-year life
(nine years mining, followed by processing
of the surface stockpile and South Heap
Leach material) that remains strongly
geared to the gold price – strong potential
for leveraging resource ounce conversion
and driving larger pits with high gold
prices.”
This, according to them, is an unethical
behaviour, especially by GFG, and deceptive
and ought to be thoroughly investigated
and offenders dealt with accordingly.
“We therefore wish to officially petition
Parliament through your good offices to,
as a matter of urgency, call Gold Fields
Ghana Limited to order, institute a Committee
to probe into the skewed business
model of Gold Fields Ghana as well as the
factual misrepresentation of Company information
by the same Company, considering
its implications on workers,
communities and the nation as a whole,”
the petition signed by the General Secretary
Mr Prince William Ankrah read in
part.
We at the DAILY HERITAGE
would like to urge on all the parties involved
to have a round table discussion
and resolve this issue once and for all. We
believe that the workers have shown maturity
that they are law-abiding by first taking
the matter to court and secondly,
petitioning Parliament.
We call on the leadership of parliament
to probe the matter as with immediacy and
to the management GFG if indeed the exercise
is not to enrich their pockets as was
being alleged by the workers, we call on
them to come out with the through state
of the mines.
What we want to tell the mineworkers
is that retrenchment has a positive side and
if possible they should consider its positivity
who knows maybe it could be a
blessing in disguise.
Ghana Armed Forces get
1.2m Euro office complex
BY RAMSON ACQUAH-HAYFORD
THE MINISTER of Defence,
Mr Dominic Nitiwul, yesterday
commissioned the Defence Intelligence
Office Complex of
the Ghana Armed Forces
(GAF) at Burma Camp, Accra estimated at
1.2million Euros
According to the minister, the edifice, together
with other projects, was sponsored by
the German Government as part of honouring
a-four-year Memorandum of Understanding
between Ghana and German governments.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Nitiwul
noted that, “This edifice before us is the outcome
of interaction between the Department
of Defence Intelligence and GAFTAG. It ensured
the completion of a stalled structure,
which started in 2003 and was intended to be
used as an intelligence training centre and office
complex.”
The minister indicated that the project, on
the theme ‘Enhancing Military Intelligence’,
and a collaboration between GAFTAG and
the GAF, saw all contractual agreements for
the continuation of the project in May this
year.
He thanked the German Ambassador to
Ghana, His Excellency Christoph Retzlaff, and
his government for showing such immense
•Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul (2nd l), cutting the sod with help from
the German Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Christoph Retzlaff (2nd R)
support to the GAF.
The ambassador, in his remarks, stated that,
“The recent visit of the German President,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to Ghana shows that
the two nations are together in a strong bond
of friendship. Together, we strive for peace, security
and prosperity and stability not only in
our countries but in Europe and in Africa.
“The importance of the Ghana cannot be
overestimated; this country is a shining example
of a leading nation in Africa with regard to
political, economic and military aspects.”
He said Ghana’s commitment to peacekeeping
missions is unparalleled and highly appreciated
all over the world.
The structure is a two-storey
which has in it a 60-seater auditorium
for central lectures, two 20-
seater syndicate rooms, a research
library and a cyber office where
real time information will be analyzed.
The building also contains offices
for Strategic and Operational
cells as well as the line
Directors, Deputy Director General
and the Director General.
• The Ghana Armed Forces office Complex