BRINGS AKWATIA ALIVE!

By Aaron Okyere

The
mining town of Akwatia came alive yesterday with its precious stones (diamonds)
ready to be mined when Vice-President John Mahama launched the commencement of
work of the Great Consolidated Diamonds Ghana Limited (GCDGL) with a call on all
Ghanaians to ensure that the company succeeds since it will “ create
sustainable jobs, revamp the local economy and conserve the environment.”

The
Vice-President said the NDC Government’s bold step in activating the Akwatia
Mines through an indigenous investor, for the purposes of salvaging the
unemployment situation and accelerating economic development in the eastern
region is very much in line with the national aspirations of Ghana as conveyed
in the Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the 1992 Constitution.
He
said the occasion of the launch of the commencement of work by the GCDGL therefore
marks another milestone in the progress of Ghana towards the enhancement of the
living standards of its people through the creation of jobs, socio economic
development and the establishment of a peaceful and harmonious environment.
He
said the mining sector is an important segment of the Ghanaian economy and
continues to play a significant role in the country’s socio-economic
development since the colonial period, adding that historically, the mining
sector’s contribution to gross foreign exchange, particularly gold and diamond has
been paralleled by only the cocoa sector.
“The
sector, we believe, presents strong potentials to generate substantial revenue
and employment to provide more visible economic benefits to the country and
improve livelihood for the population. The NDC Government will ensure that the
mining sector is given the due attention it deserves; the right policies shall
therefore be enforced to give the people of Ghana a major stake in the sector and
ensure that the citizens benefit from its minerals” he asserted.
Vice-President
John Mahama therefore called on Ghanaians to welcome the GCDGL and wish them
well in their operation.
In
his remark, the Okyehene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori-Panyin decried the gradual
turning of Akwatia into a ghost town as a result of the decline in the production
of diamond which he partly blamed on better market prices prevailing for gold,
as well as the moribund situation of the major diamond mining company in West
Africa – the Ghana Consolidated Diamond (GCD) Limited which the GCDGL has taken
over.
He
expressed the optimism that with the coming into being of GCDGL, Akwatia will
once again come alive. He charged the youth to take advantage of the operations
of GCDGL to ply their career in minerals exploration, agri-business, haulages
and other transport services as well as other indirect services to make life
more fulfilling for them and enable them contribute to the socio-economic
development of the country
The
Acting Chief Executive of GCDGL, in his speech, said the new company offers an
opportunity for Ghanaians to tell their
own story by demonstrating to the world that they are equally capable of
operating their own multi-million dollar mining facility based on world class
standards and using the dividends to grow the economy.

In
view of this, he said the GCDGL, apart from investing over $100 Million in a
five-year multi-phase programme by way of revamping the Akwatia mine, has its
operations uniquely designed to transform the landscape of Akwatia and the
entire region into a commercial hub with state of the art infrastructural
development and numerous jobs opportunities for the people of the town and it
environs.
“It
is estimated that in total, about 50,000 direct job opportunities will be
created in mainstream mining and other ancillary areas such as large scale agricultural
activities which will make use of the reclaimed mine out-lands, cash crop
farming especially oil palm, citrus and cocoa plantations as well as livestock
rearing, fish farming, afforestation projects, staple foods farming and finally
add value to farm produce through agro-processing. The expected employments to be
generated from
all these ancillary activities are estimated at 22,000” the Acting Chief
Executive added.
A
cross section of the people of this mining town the Daily Post talked to say the
commencement of the work of GCDGL offers them a new lease of life and fresh
challenges to add value to their lives. They praised the government for
ensuring that the divested Ghana Consolidated Diamonds went into capable hands
to ensure that Ghanaians derive maximum benefit from it.
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