WACAM salute workers

WACAM, a pressure group campaigning against the ill-effects of mining, on Friday expressed solidarity with Ghanaian workers on the celebration of this year's May Day.

A statement issued by Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, Executive Director of WACAM said the message was premised on the need to consolidate solidarity among all sections of workers to rethink about the development of the nation and the control of the available natural resources for economic and political independence.

"WACAM recognises that the nation rides on the back of its working people and the protection of the interests and rights of the productive forces of Ghana should be regarded as national priority in our governance system.

"The nation and its people continue to survive on the working people who do not receive equitable share of the national wealth. Workers make sacrifices in the creation of social and economic wealth of the nation but their standard of living does not reflect the national wealth created by their efforts.

"This celebration is a reminder of the fact that it is only through solidarity and common action that workers could protect their interests and rights," the statement said.

It said the extraction of the nation's resources had only benefited foreign multinational companies and had created untold hardship for the communities in which they operate. "The balance sheet in the extraction of natural wealth, especially gold, shows that Ghana has given out so much to the

foreign mining companies in the form of generous incentives, which allows these companies to repatriate huge profits

estimated by credible organisation's like the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to be in the rage of 95

per cent of mining revenues leaving the country with five per cent of it. "We have permitted mining in the forest reserve and allowed mining companies to mine cemeteries, impound rivers for

mining purposes, dump mine waste on arable lands and destroyed the livelihood of thousand of people in mining

communities," the statement said. It noted that the operations of these companies had a bearing on job creation and negatively affects the quality of life of

workers and the communities in which they operate. The statement reminded organised labour of the need to solidarise with their compatriots in mining communities,

especially farmers who suffered as a result of the operations of these companies and could not engage with mining

companies on technical issues. "The mining companies have used their financial and lobbying might to protect their profit interests against the

sovereign rights of Ghanaians and the result had been that the mining communities are compelled to live with human

rights violation, pollution of rivers, displacement of people loss of livelihoods, low compensation among others. "Again, the inhuman treatment of people in the mining communities who are part of the working people of Ghana

should be a source of concern to organised labour." It called for the effective management of the nation's natural resources to benefit workers and help to improve their

livelihood.