The Chiefs and people of Ahansonyewodea,a mining community in the Obuasi East District could not hide their joy when the Chief Executive for the Obuasi East District Hon. Faustina Amissah and the Board Chairman of the Mineral Development Fund Kwaku Sakyi Addo commissioned an ultra modern Community center at Ahansonyewodea.

The facility is set to provide a venue for all forms of social events. The community, hitherto, had to spend a lot of money in hiring canopies and chairs for events. The commissioning of the community center which cost more than Gh400,000 will however come as a huge relief to elders and people of the
Ahansonyewodea community.

Funded from the Mineral Development Fund (MDF), the community center is part of three (3) projects selected by the Local mining committee to be constructed from the Fund. This according to the DCE Hon Faustina Amissah is an indication of the judicious use of the fund to the benefit of the mining communities.

She said: "since the Local mining committee was formed in 2020, this is the first project we have commissioned. Currently, the construction of CHPs compound and Nurses quarters at Kwameduakrom is progressing steadily whiles another CHPs compound and Nurses quarters at Anyimadukrom will start in earnest".

She said the facility has spacious auditorium as well as lavatories, additional rooms and mechanised borehole. She called for effective management of the facility. She was however optimistic that revenue generate from the usage of the communitt center will help maintain it.

MDF, which was set up by the Minerals Development Fund Act, 2016 (Act 912) to provide financial resources for the direct benefit of mining communities, institutions responsible for the development of the mining sector, as well as traditional and local government.

The passage of the MDF necessitated the formation of Local Management Committee (LMC) to administer the fund, which was previously lodged and managed through the Consolidated Fund.

The Local Management committee is responsible for selecting projects for beneficiary communities whiles the MDF secretariat provides funding for the approved projects. The Board Chairman of the Mineral Development Fund Kwaku Sakyi Addo lauded the Local Management Committee in the district for spearheading the construction of the project. He said the project will
immensely help the community who struggled to find a place to host their social events and gatherings.

He admonished the community to maintain the facility to stand the test of time saying, "this project emanated from a needs assessment done by the LMC, which means it is the project the community has called for. I will entreat them to own it and protect it to serve future generations".