NEWMOUNT, OLIVES DONATE TO MINING COMMUNITIES (PAGE 35, NOV 10, 2010)

NEWMONT Golden Ridge Limited, a gold mining company in the Akyem area in the Eastern Region, in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation, the Organisation for Livelihood Enhancement Services (OLIVES), has presented television sets, DVD players and office and games equipment to be distributed to four communities in the operational areas of the company.
The four beneficiary communities, Adausena, Afosu, Ntronang and Okaikrom, have also been given plastic chairs and canopies to be rented out to generate income for the people in the area.
Presenting the items on behalf of Newmont at New Abirem at the weekend, the Birim North District Co-ordinating Director, Mr Francis Owusu Ansah, praised Newmont and OLIVES for their assistance, which according to him, would help improve the lot of the people.
He advised the beneficiaries to make good use of the items.
The District Director of the Ghana Health Service, Mrs Juliana Sackey, who received the items on behalf of the communities, was hopeful that Newmont had already assessed the medical equipment situation of health facilities in the area.
She said the items would be delivered to the health facilities such as the Holy Family Hospital at Nkawkaw to improve on their performance.
The Executive Director of OLIVES, Mr Moses E. Ogoe, said apart from the donation, his outfit was also educating the people to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS due to the influx of people from all walks of life to the area as a result of the operations of the company.
Earlier, Newmont had organised a quiz competition for 16 junior high schools (JHS) in its operational area during which the pupils were drilled on mining activities, science, mathematics and social studies.
The event also brought together, the queen of Akyem Kotoku Traditional Area, Nana Akua Asantewa III, the Abiremhene, Nana Amo Tweretwie and officials of the Birim North District Assembly, who were impressed with the pupils’ performance.
Mamanso Islamic JHS won the competition while Afosu Roman Catholic JHS took the second position, with New Abirem Holy Child JHS placing third and Old Abirem Muzama Academy JHS coming fourth.
The four schools were given television sets and other educational materials which were also presented to all the 16 participating schools.
The contestants of the four schools were each given school bags stocked with stationery and a certificate while the overall best school received a gift voucher valued at GH1,200 presented by Global Institute of Business and ICT Studies (GIBCTS) to be used by the contestants for basic training in ICT.
Miss Erica Afumwaa of the Afosu Roman Catholic JHS, the only female candidate who also excelled in the competition, was presented with a special prize.
While Nana Akua Asantewa appealed to parents to give teachers the chance to discipline their indisciplined children, Nana Amo Tweretwie suggested that all the senior high schools in Newmont’s operational area should in future be roped into the quiz to enable the students to know more about mining operations.
Teachers, he said, must also help the pupils to solve mathematical and science problems since such areas had been their Achilles heel.  
  Newmont’s Government Relations Co-ordinator, Mr K. Obodum, said pupils, students and adults in the 17 communities in the company’s operational areas were being properly educated on mining activities as well as providing the needed social amenities and other poverty alleviation programmes.