NEWMOUNT SAFEGUARDS ENVIRONMENT IN OPERATIONAL AREAS (PAGE 12, JAN 23, 2010)

NEWMONT Ghana Limited, a multinational gold mining company operating in the Akyem area of the Eastern Region, has stated that it has taken the necessary steps to safeguard the environment in its operational area.
It said since it was likely that some of the dangerous chemicals used in its operations, such as cyanide, could spill over to other areas, everything had been done to contain the situation whenever it occurred.
The Communications Manager of Newmont Akyem Project, Mr Oduro-Kwarteng Marfo, gave the assurance when the company’s officials met the Eastern Regional Press Corps in Koforidua on Wednesday.
The meeting, which formed part of Newmont’s periodic interaction with the media, was to brief the journalists on the current situation of its operations.
According to Mr Marfo, in every mining activity, it was possible for some dangerous chemicals to spill over to other areas, as happened at its Ahafo Mine, so a number of corrective measures had been instituted to contain the situation in the event of its occurrence.
That, according to him, would guarantee the safety of the people in the operational area.
“A number of interventions have been made to contain any given situation when the company starts full operation so that no spillage or pollution will endanger the lives of the people in the operational area,” he stressed.
With regard to the payment of compensation to landowners and farmers, he said well qualified valuers had been engaged to ensure that neither the landowners/farmers nor the company would be cheated.
Mr Marfo told the gathering that Newmont would not depart from its track of ensuring the welfare of the people in its operational area and explained that it was in that direction that the company had already provided a number of social amenities, such as schools, in the area, although it had not started full operations.
Mr Smyly Bannerman, the Project Manager of LandPo-Consult, a consultancy firm engaged to assist the company in its dealings with the people in the operational area, also gave the assurance that his outfit would follow the guidelines to ensure fairness to both Newmont and the people who would be affected by its operations.
Both Mr Marfo and Mr Bannerman called on the media to be circumspect in their reportage for the benefit of the company and the people, since both stakeholders would benefit from the operations of the company.