Four Amansie communities clash with mining company

Manso-Nkran (Ashanti), 3 March ?99 ?Tension between the chiefs and people of four cluster communities in the Amansie West District and Amansie Resources limited, a mining company operating in the area that erupted into violent clashes recently has now eased.

This followed the intervention by Mr Anthony Boakye- Yiadom, Member of Parliament (MP) for the area. Some vital equipment of the company, including radio communication gadgets, were stolen while others got vandalised during the clashes.

The communities, Koninase, Manso-Nkran, Dadiase and Kwankyeabo, were angered by what they saw as a deliberate refusal by the mining company to employ the youth from the area. At a joint meeting organised at the instance of the MP, Mr Quesi Paul-Ransford, an assembly member, who acted as a spokesman, complained that of the total workforce of the company, only five are from the four communities. He said having lost their farms and lands to the company, they expected that some of the many unemployed youth, would be recruited to work in areas of the mines operations that do not require any specialised skills to enable them to earn a living. Other areas of concern, he said, are the constant blasting of rocks by the company which, he claimed had led to the creation of cracks on walls of their buildings and inadequate compensation for crops destroyed. Mr Boakye-Yiadom advised them to use dialogue to resolve whatever problems they may have with the company without recourse to violence. The MP told the chiefs and people to reconcile themselves to the fact that the laws of the country would not permit them to stop the company from carrying out its legitimate operations through acts of intimidation and lawlessness. A source at the mines debunked the charges leveled by the communities explaining that sub-contractors who carry out most of the jobs at the mines employ casual labourers from among the communities. The youth in the area, however, insist on permanent employment and refuse to accept any job that is temporal, the source added. He denied also that the blasting of rocks by the company is causing damage to buildings in the community, saying the effects of the blast are constantly monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

On the issue of compensation, he said what the people are demanding is payment for lands and explained that they have no problems doing that once Parliament enacts a legislation to that effect.