Newmont Ghana’s modus operandi: Is it a threat to the economy?

By: Stephen Yeboah

Newmont’s modi operandi: 1. Manipulating the youths and chiefs to gain unpopular support and cheap licence for Ajenua Bepo Forest mining and 2. Total disregard for the safety of the natural environment (apologised for cyanide spillage they earlier asserted had contained its effects: a clear case of scientific dishonesty and misinformation, may be to mislead Ghanaians).

The most recent developments have to do with the way mining companies employ the services of the police (who are allowed to be induced) to prevent the basic right of the discontented local people mining communities to demonstration. This sometimes results in brutalities and gruesome abuse of human rights. Follow the facts presented in the article.

Definitely, there is no issue that assumes greater importance than acknowledging the fact that supposedly hospitable atmosphere in Ghana is being used inimically against the approaches of the economy to growth and stability by some multinational mining companies operating within the corridors of the country. Nothing can disprove the fact that the modi operandi of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited are severe threat to the growth of the economy.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the manipulations by most multinational mining companies are so commonplace that neither successive governments nor mining communities have felt compelled to seek for a lasting solution to this unfortunate development. How disappointing it is that conditions in the country have grievously allowed most multinational mining companies to selfishly manipulate the environment and our own people to work to their advantage. These manipulations and hypocrisies have assumed alarming trends and for that matter leave much to be desired. The fact that mining has presented the country with great loss than gain is proven considering the recent unacceptable double-standard attitudes of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited. And it is about time we fought for the manifestation of acceptable company operations for the country to gain considerable revenue for investment in other sectors of the economy.

The Exposed Manipulations

It will interest you to know that these ominous manipulations extend from top government structures to the ordinary people at the grass-root level. Ghana is now grappling with increasing inter-generational poverty in the mining communities as a result of minerals and mining regulations which are weak, unenforceable and full of loopholes. We are in a country where harmful chemicals like cyanide are spilled into water bodies by mining companies with impunity. What now exist is that fellow Ghanaians are picked by these mining companies under the pretext of employment to imperil the interest of their own people especially the poor in mining communities. Is it not outrageous for certain group of Ghanaians to condone the illegal destruction and seizure of agriculture lands, burying of houses of poor farmers by rock debris, cyanide-contaminated water bodies and abuse of fundamental human rights by most mining companies in the country. This they know will fatten their bank accounts to the detriment of the welfare of the poor who are bearing the brunt of inefficient mechanical mining. These anomalies will not auger well if the country really aspires to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Newmont Ghana Gold Limited upon acknowledging that their unjust scheme for the government to grant the company the license to mine in the Ajenua Bepo Forest is turning to be fruitless has once again, relentlessly engaged the services of so-called Birim North Umbrella Youth Association (BNUYA) besides the earlier concerns made by some induced chiefs at Akyem Kotoku in support of the project. It could be discerned, without any doubt, that these youths and chiefs are subjects of the manipulation techniques of Newmont to hoist support in favour of mining in Ajenua Bepo Forest. The information WACAM disclosed that the Birim North Umbrella Youth Association is a wing that belongs to Newmont Ghana Gold Limited should always be considered significant and timely. This means after all, the youth groups represent themselves (and Newmont) and not the people. The statement by the youth group that “anti-mining groups” in the country should stop issuing statements in the name of the youths of Birim North is unacceptable. This is because Article 41 (k) of the 1992 Constitution enjoins every Ghanaian to “protect and safeguard the environment”, of which the Ajenua Bepo Forest Reserve is no exception. The fight for the protection of the forest reserve is therefore well justified. We have every cause to salvage the deteriorating physical environment in the country where already 8.2 million hectares of forest reserve a century ago, has declined to a current 1.5 million hectares before posterity blame this generation for their predicaments.

Again, the youth groups are being misled with the erroneous impression that ‘if the mineral were not mined by a competent mining company, illegal miners would take over the place’. What even makes a mining company competent? Nonetheless, isn’t it prudent for the disenchanted unemployed young people to mine to sustain their worsening livelihoods than allowing Newmont to mine in a forest reserve where apparently all the mining resources are repatriated to their country? It shouldn’t therefore come as a surprise, if reports (The Ghanaian Chronicle, November 25, 2009) indicate that, Newmont Ghana in its investment agreement with the government categorically sets royalties the company pays government at 3%, and is exempted from the payment of custom and excise duties and Value Added Tax (VAT). Doesn’t the country deserve to gain more from mining?

A second look at mining in forest reserves

It is high time Ghanaians discerned that unless we change the status quo in the mining industry, mining can in no way improve the livelihoods of the ordinary people and the economy at large. Gold has been mechanically mined in Obuasi since 1897 and Tarkwa was the premier mechanical gold mining town in the country. Have these towns developed and lives improved? Rightly evident are the enormous negative impacts of cyanide and other harmful chemicals on agriculture production, drinking water, rivers and general disenchanted livelihoods. The majority people living in mining communities continue to wallow in abject poverty even with the seeming increase in mineral revenues; a clear case of “Paradox of Plenty”. Why shouldn’t increasing poverty in the country be a mystery despite the gains of gold on the international market?

The youth are advised to look elsewhere if really they want their district and the local people to develop and see improved lives respectively at a faster pace. It is important for the people in Birim North District to learn from what happened in Peru this year. On September 27th, the inhabitants of the province of Islay—located in the Arequipa Region—participated in a municipally-organized local consultation process to articulate their opinion about the Southern Peru Copper Corporation's Tía María mining project in the district of Cocachacra. The result of this consultation, which took place in the districts of Cocachacra, Deán Valdivia, Punta de Bombón, Mejía and Matarani, was a resounding rejection of the project. The results indicated that 2,916 people (93.1%) voted against, while 139 people voted in favor. This was because the local people saw that the mining operations would have potential negative environmental impacts on their source of water supply. What does this mean to the people of Birim North District especially when the negative impacts of mining in the country are very apparent?

What is imperative is to acknowledge that these youth groups and the chiefs have been blinded with inducements from Newmont Ghana Gold Limited to act as unofficial mouthpiece of the company. The only available anti-development group is the ‘company’ that’s employing scientific dishonesty and misinformation in its operations and not the non-governmental organisations that are fighting assiduously for the improved welfare of the poor in the mining areas. I cannot help but to blame the successive leaders of this country for sitting unconcerned for so long while these mining companies operate against the basic rights and interest of our own people and economy.

To this end, one thing for sure is that these people are clamouring for the livelihood disasters associated with mechanical mining in Ghana. With lessons from other mining regions, it is a known fact that mining is never the right antidote to neutralize the enormous threat posed by poverty in the country. The youth association should therefore, in the interest of the country, allow the government to assess and analyze the technical feasibility of the project. It is a national affair and not the affair of Birim North District alone. However, much is expected of the NDC government to consider the welfare of the present generation and most importantly the posterity in this project especially when the BBC has recently reported that 90% of Ghana’s forests had been degraded since it attained independence in 1957, leaving only 10%, which is also under pressure by the local people.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, these increasing manipulations and hypocrisies of Newmont Ghana Gold limited and other mining companies if not tackled as a serious matter would exact a heavy toll not only on the country’s commitment to ensure credible democracy and good governance but to achieving sustainable development. As a body that regulates and enacts policies for the country’s natural resources and forest reserves, it behoves the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to act accordingly. Or else, the National Forest Plantation Development Program (NFPDP) to be launched in January 2010 - to avert the declining trend of its forest reserve as a purposive fight against climate change – would make no significant impact if the Akyem Project is given the go-ahead. The protection of our limited agriculture lands, the source of drinking water and tackling climate change variability are essential for a sustained socio-economic development. Certainly, these manipulations must be dealt with before they get out of hand. And Ajenua Bepo Forest must be saved!

The author is at the Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana. (Email: [email protected])