Some displaced mineworkers at Gbani in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region have levelled strong threats to start a new life with armed robbery after government struck their employers, the Shaanxi Mining Company Limited, with indefinite closure Thursday- sending home over 500 mining employees.
A letter was served Tuesday on the Chinese company from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to suspend its underground operations to allow for investigations into alleged target killings of local miners and environmental devastation by the company’s Chinese employees in the community.
This is the first time the famous mining colossus has run into a temporary shutdown after surviving overwhelming accusations launched ceaselessly by some local mining groups since it entered the community in 2008 at the invitation of two local mining companies- Yenyeya and Pubortaaba- to render technical support services.
The mining yard went up in open resentment Thursday after the management of the company, in compliance with the orders from government, told a huge gathering of mineworkers to go home until further notice. Among the 552 employees temporarily displaced in the wake of the closure are scores of nonnatives from the Western, the Central and the Ashanti among other regions.
“I completed senior high school in 2002. If I go home now, what am I going to do? I’m just going to join armed robbery gangs. I have three children. And to be honest with you, I also have a girlfriend who is also pregnant for me.
Apart from this Shaanxi, there are no jobs in this area. If Shaanxi closes down, we’ll all become armed robbers,” Victor Azaare told Starr News on the premises of the troubled company.
Elizabeth Yinama, a matron who says she has 3 children, vented her bile in front of news cameras: “This work is helping this town more than the galamsey (illegal mining) workers. They (the illegal miners) have created a hole linking to Shaanxi, causing their own deaths and after that creating a lie that Shaanxi is killing them. We are on our knees, begging the government. If not, if we go back to our various houses, maybe we would be turned [into] armed robbers.”
Negligent regulatory bodies killed miners- Shaanxi
Moments after the miners were dismissed, a news conference followed immediately on the mining premises. It had in attendance the company’s management staff and technical experts, led by the Human Resource Manager, Joseph Anokye.
The conference saw the company’s legal counsel, Lawyer Rockson Akugre, put on display a bundle of permit and licence documents signed by the Chief Inspector of Mines at the Minerals Commission to contest recent claims by a group calling itself the Concerned Citizens of Talensi that the company was operating illegally and evading both taxes and contributions to the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).
“The allegations are unfounded. They should always go in to find out the truth from the appropriate agencies. If they continue telling lies, it would not augur well for the district because if Shaanxi is out, the new company they are claiming is coming in will also be out because it’s coming to face the same galamsey challenges. We pay our SSNIT contributions. We have registered all our workers. We pay our taxes as well. They should check the right quarters,” the company’s Underground Mining Manager, Thomas Tii Yenzanya, told journalists at the news conference, challenging the company’s accusers.
He added: “I’m blaming the deaths (of the miners) on Ghanaians (the regulatory authorities). The sealing of these illegal pits (where miners have continued to die in the area) has been [spoken about] since August, last year. They (illegal miners) pass through illegal pits into Shaanxi area and they claim to be gassed from those pits. We at the safety departments could foresee dangers of that sort. That’s why we reported to the necessary authorities to assist us to seal those pits. Up to now, nothing has been done about it.”
Fate of hundreds and their families hangs in the balance
The fate of the displaced miners now hangs on whatever decision the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, John-Peter Awewu, takes after the impending investigations.
The letter from the ministry, captioned “Suspension of Mining Operations- Shaanxi Mining Company Limited”, reads: “The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. John-Peter Awewu, has received reports that your mining operations at Gbane in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region have allegedly caused the death of some people in that area. It has been reported that this is not the first time such an incident has occurred in your mine and this cannot be allowed to continue.
“I have, therefore, instructed that a thorough investigation be conducted into the matter. To enable the investigators have easy access to your underground operations, your operations have been suspended with effect from the date of this letter. The suspension of your mining operations shall remain in force until the investigations are completed and the appropriate decision taken by me. You are advised to strictly comply with this directive.”
As of the time newsmen were leaving the vast yard, hundreds of disheartened miners, particularly those from afar, also were packing their personal belongings, not sure the company would be reopened…not sure they would be called back.
Source: starrfmonline.com
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They should go into farming with their bare hands is it, how many of you will go into farming using a hoe , do you realize how difficult it is to farm in the north, I think this is the npp way of helpng to keep the north in poverty, they don't want northners to prosper
things happened. laid off is one of them. you will be beaten to death as an arm robber. give us a break.
I don't understand Ghanaians, have we forgotten the country belongs to us? why wont they go into farming or petition the government to help them establish themselves? instead of going into armed robbery which will also land them in prisons meaning their lives will be destroy forever.
A man with one eye blinded said to the mother, why is my other eye blind mom, people laugh at me everywhere i go. The mother replied, u were very stubborn wen u were a baby. U will cry blood wen something is taken from ur hand. I allowed u to hold onto a knife u were crying dearly for and u mistaking stabbed ur eye with it. The young man got angry and said '' i was only a baby and u shouldnt have given me everything i wished for, by saying this, he choked her mother to death". Galamseyers should not think the government hates them. We have only one Ghana and everything possible must be done to protect it for our future generations, galamseyers future children. GOD BLESS
This is a wake up call to govt....equip the military and police...!!!
The police and the military will be ready for you. We shall not waste food on you in the prisons.
They will also be imprisoned for life when caught! They aren't sensible after all!
NO PROBLEM AT ALL!!! WE WOULD START EXPANDING NSAWAM PRSONS TO TAKE CARE OF YOU.
The Mine Workers can go into Farming, but not Arm Robbery. If they really care for their Families, then they should rather go into Farming.