Newmont Foundation spends GH¢8.4m developing communities affected by operations

The Newmont Akyem Development Foundation (NAKDeF) has spent a total of GH¢8.4 million to tackle felt-needs of communities affected by the operation of the Newmont Akyem Mine.

This involved the construction and refurbishment of school structures, award of scholarship to 1,385 students (in senior high schools and tertiary institutions) and the establishment of a 28.5 acre oil palm plantation to provide employment and improve the economic situation of the people.

Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, the Board Chairman, who announced this said it had additionally provided competency-based trainings for 52 young people as part of the drive to fight joblessness among the youth in the area.

He was speaking at an annual general meeting of the Foundation held at Abirem in the Birim North District.

He mentioned Ntronang, Afosu, New Abirem, Adausena and Old Abirem among the beneficiary communities of the school projects.

He informed the meeting that the Foundation had been providing strong support to the school feeding programme in two deprived communities for the dual purpose of getting more children enrolled and addressing malnutrition among them.

The Foundation was set up by the Newmont in collaboration with the local communities to spearhead efforts at bringing development to make things better for people in the mining area.

Nana Dr. Boni Abankro V, the chief of Adausena, applauded NAKDeF for the significant strides it had been making, but added that, it went the extra mile to ensure that development projects were fairly distributed.

He noted that the Western side of Abirem, had not had its “fair share of the cake” and that needed to be corrected.

There should also be effective monitoring and supervision of projects to avoid delays, he added.