Veep launches GCDGL

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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