Miss Joyce R. Aryee, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines has called on mining communities to hold the central government and their local assemblies, traditional authorities and councils accountable in their demands for infrastructural developments in their respective communities.
She said mining companies pay heavy royalties to government and the various institutions mandated to receive such funds but many communities within the mining catchment areas demand more from the companies than the beneficiary institutions.
Ms. Aryee made this call at a networking lunch of the Western Regional Branch of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in Takoradi.
She indicated that the chamber paid royalties amounting 1,662,668 Ghana cedis to the Wassa West now Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal assembly whilst the stool and traditional council received 755,758 Ghana cedis and 604,606 as royalties respectively in 2008.
She said Other beneficiaries are the Adansi West district which received 475,317 Ghana cedis, 216,053 went to the stool while the council had 172,842 Ghana cedis.
Bibiani Ahwianso Bekwai assembly received 223,232 Ghana cedis, 101,469 went to the stool while the traditional council also received 81,175.
The Asutifi and Tano north districts and stool also received 850,760 Ghana cedis and 386,709 Ghana cedis respectively while the traditional council also got 309,367.
Ms. Aryee said the Mpohor Wassa East district however received the least of 171,763 Ghana cedis whilst 78,074 went to the stool with the traditional council benefiting from 62,459 Ghana cedis.
She said that in all, an amount of 3,383,740 Ghana cedis was paid to MMDA's in mining communities whilst stools received 1,538,063 Ghana cedis as royalties in 2008.
"If government is receiving so much money from the chamber and yet the communities are crying for developmental projects then you should asked government where the royalties go," she stressed.
She added that though the chamber can not tell government what to do with royalties, it will be in government's interest to develop mining communities and reduce the pressure communities put on the chamber.
She noted that in 2008 the industry returned more than 63 percent of mineral revenue to the country out of which six per cent was paid to government in the form of royalties and taxes.
Ms. Aryee said that 10 per cent was paid to the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for electric power purchases.
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