AngloGold Ashanti to rehabilitate Ayamfuri

Ayamfuri, (C/R), Oct.24, GNA - The AngloGold Ashanti has voted 5.4 million dollars to rehabilitate the Ayamfuri concession and restore it into useful protective land before surrendering it to its original owners.

It has also released all its facilities of 30 buildings including, club house, swimming pool and offices to the government. Mr Nigel Traverthern Managing Director of AngloGold Ashanti made this known at the launch of an alternative sustainable livelihood project for communities within the Ayamfuri concession area, on Saturday.

The project, which is part of the decommissioning process of the mine, is to enable members in the communities to have sustainable livelihood in order to be able to cater for themselves and their families.

About 2000 people are expected to be trained in snail farming, grasscutter rearing and indigenous vegetable production. The training programme is, being facilitated by the Centre for Biodiversity Utilisation and Development (CBUD) of the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi.

Mr. Traverthern said about 1.5 billion cedis had been earmarked for the sustainable livelihood training programme in the area. He said the objectives of the company's social responsibility in its areas of operations were to promote sustainable livelihoods and support the government to provide social amenities for the people to improve their living conditions.

Mr Traverthern advised the people to embrace the project in order to live meaningful lives.

Dr Boakye Amoako-Atta, Director of CBUD, said 900 people within the concession area were currently under training in snail and grasscutter rearing.

He said about 7000 people nationwide were currently engaged in snail and grasscutter production.

Dr Amoako-Atta said snail farming had now become an important source of income to many families in the country.

He said as part of the project, CBUD had planted about 630 economic trees at the mine site in order to reclaim portions of the land. Mr Richard Anane Adabo, District Chief Executive for Upper Denkyira, commended the AngloGold Ashanti for initiating the project in the area.

He said the project was in line with the government's objective of reducing poverty among the people and said the training would enable the beneficiaries had sustainable incomes to improve their living standards. Mr Adabo, pledged the assembly's support to the beneficiaries to enable them expand their farms after their training. He, however, appealed to the company to develop the mine site into a tourist attraction to enable the communities derive revenue for socio-economic activities.