Assembly calls on government to retain part of royalties

The Tarkwa-Nsuaem Assembly in the Western Region is in discussions with the government on how mining companies operating within the Municipality could retain part of their mining royalties paid to the state to develop the Constituency.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mr Gilbert Kennedy Asmah, announced this at the general Assembly’s meeting at Tarkwa.

Addressing members of the Assembly, the MCE said, a meeting was held at the Ministry of Finance in June this year with officials from the Ministries of Finance, Roads and Highways and Chamber of Mines. There were also representatives from Gold Fields Ghana Limited, AngloGold Ashanti, Ghana Manganese Company Limited and other stakeholders to deliberate on the various modules by which this could be done.

Mr Asmah said he attended the meeting with the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa-Nsuaem Constituency, the Western Regional Minister and all the Road engineers in the Municipality.

He added that a technical team has been formed to put together a proposal with the help of a transaction advisor which would soon be submit for further discussion.

Under this agreement, the MCE said, 120 kilometer of urban roads, 210 kilometer of feeder roads and 93 kilometer Tarkwa-Takoradi Highway will be covered, he said and added that, “at least 50 kilometers of roads would be started at the initial stage of implementation when the proposal is approved”.

The contractor working on the 13.50 kilometers Bogoso Junction Wassa Agona road has started with the laying of asphaltic binder course at some sections of the road, he explained.

He assured the citizens that the Assembly would work hard to ensure that the contractor have access to the necessary resources to complete the work as scheduled to bring much relief to commuters.

Mr Asmah expressed appreciation to the three mining companies in Tarkwa for assisting and ensuring that their roads were motorable.

The MCE also said the China Railway Number five Engineering GH Limited (CREC) and their consultant Technical Engineering Architectural and Management (TEAM) have introduced themselves to the Assembly as the contractor constructing the new Wassa Manso-Tarkwa rail line with stations at Benso, Essuoso, Bonsawire, Nsuta and an ultra-modern station at Tarkwa.

He told the house that at their recent investment meeting with the Vice Chair of Bank of Montreal (BMO) at the Western Regional Coordinating Council, Sekondi, some investors have shown delight to construct a specialist hospital (Ear, Nose, Throat and Orthopedic) in the Tarkwa-Nsueam Municipality.

Touching on the 2018/2019 District league table released by the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana and Centre for Policy Studies- University of Ghana, Mr Asmah said the Assembly placed first in the Western Region and seventh at the National level was an improvement on their pervious 79th position at the National level.

He expressed his gratitude to the Assembly members for their support saying without them they could not have achieve the success.