Newmont says it recognizes
rights of Mining Communities
Accra, Dec. 6, GNA – Newmont Gold, Ghana Limited
said on Wednesday that the recent incident at
Yamfo in the Brong-Ahafo Region in which
representatives of Wassa Association of
Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM) and
Oxfam, both nongovernmental organisations, were
arrested may have been caused by
misunderstanding and lack of communication.
In a statement issued in Accra, the Company
described the incident as "regrettable and of
concern to Newmont" and declared its commitment
to open a transparent processes and to support
the human rights of the communities in which
they operated.
"The processes we have put in place the Ahafo
Social Responsibility Forum; public
participation meetings; the use of local Public
Communication Officers; the community-hosted
Information Centres, the Resettlement Committee,
the Crop Compensation Committee and the Women's
Committee, among others are evidence of our
commitment to public participation," it said.
"We are committed to continuously improving
these processes to ensure that diverse views and
opinions can be expressed."
Newmont said as part of its normal community
engagement and communication process, Newmont
contracted local Public Consultation Officers (PCOs)
adding that at the moment, it had 16 PCOs
throughout the Ahafo Mine area.
“A primary hiring requirement is that they
originate from local communities. The role of
the PCO, among other things, is to facilitate
engagement; listen to community issues and
concerns and bring feedback to the Company so
that corrections and/or modifications can be
employed as appropriate and if required.
“PCOs also inform the communities about Company
activities and provide information on job and
other opportunities for community members.
"Ultimately, the intent of contracting local
community members is to ensure that communities
are not intimidated by individuals they are not
familiar with and with whom they feel free to
voice their opinion, concerns and ideas."
The statement said in the case of the Yamfo and
Adrobaa PCOs, they were contractors and had
other roles in their communities, such as youth
leaders, unrelated to Newmont.
"It was PCOs, as local community members, on
instruction from the Chief of Yamfo, Nana Ansah
Adu-Baah I, who raised concerns about a meeting
purported to be with Newmont. Newmont does not
maintain special arrangement with security
forces or the Police."
The statement said the Company would support any
mechanism or organization that chose to take
part in the participation process or assist the
communities in their participation.
It also supported the rights of others to
express opinions that differed from those of the
Company and accepted that mechanisms for
expressing views might be associated with the
Company's process or external to it.
"However, the processes that bring about those
views must be open and transparent," it said.
"Newmont is ready and willing to work with any
credible, independent, external evaluation of
our performance in the areas of our relationship
with security forces; the community; our human
rights record and our environmental stewardship
in the Ahafo area," the statement said.
GNA
