Is there any hope for Obuasi after the Mine closure?

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• Sell out for a Knighthood! 11 years ago

  The evil than men do lives after them.

  The evil than men do lives after them.

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• Ananse 11 years ago

  He sold out very badly.

  He sold out very badly.

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• ELINAM 11 years ago

  Until the Chinese hit town with their bulldozers to galamsey their way to riches, stupid Ghanaians mined gold and diamod with their hands and believed only the white man could use big machines to mine.
  The white man brought ...
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  Until the Chinese hit town with their bulldozers to galamsey their way to riches, stupid Ghanaians mined gold and diamod with their hands and believed only the white man could use big machines to mine.
  The white man brought his machines, off loaded, transported, installed and operated by Ghanaians for over 200 years with nothing to show for while the foreigner took all the money out.
  On other hand, the whites in South Africa, with their technology know- how,put a design together and got machines from Europe,US and Asia and mined their gold with African labor,retained the profit and built Johanesberg,Pretoria and Cape Town.
  
  While all these was going on, Ghanaians refused to do a quick thinking that what could be the game changer in our fortunes in mining is no magic but machines and a design to sustain life and security underground. The white man has no monopoly on these designs, so why we allowed them to design the mines and send us underground to toil for all these years and threw the crumbs to us and took the meat?
  
  Now that the Chinese has opened our eyes to big machines, do we really need "COMMERCIAL MINING"?
  Black man in Ghana is funny to call a mining that involves big machines commercial and thus a monopoly for only whites Europeans.
  What the hell is stopping Ghanaians to mine their own gold?
  
  In 14th century, when Mansa Musa took tons of gold from the Mali empire through Egypt on his way to Mecca and caused the price of gold to fall, was any white technology helped him mined those gold?
  Ghana think about this.

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• ELINAM 11 years ago

  True we've been brainwashed that government has to stay away from business, and due to our own fictitious character, we bought in to it so that we can collide with dubious foreigners as investors as if only whites have monop ...
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  True we've been brainwashed that government has to stay away from business, and due to our own fictitious character, we bought in to it so that we can collide with dubious foreigners as investors as if only whites have monopoly to invest.
  
  Ethiopian airways which is surpassing their own 2015 target by four plane in 2013 and over taking the whole of Africa as the number one and largest airline in Africa in terms of coverage is a state enterprise, and those running it did not come from Mars either but here in Africa.
  
  Ghana's problem is nothing but sheer dishonesty and laziness on all fronts.

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• Akadu Mensema 11 years ago

  STOP EXPENDING YOUR ENERGIES POINTING FINGERS...COME AND BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!!! IF YOU CAN'T STEP UP THEN SHUT THE HELL UP!!!

  STOP EXPENDING YOUR ENERGIES POINTING FINGERS...COME AND BE PART OF THE SOLUTION!!! IF YOU CAN'T STEP UP THEN SHUT THE HELL UP!!!

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• ELINAM 11 years ago

  True we've been brainwashed that government has to stay away from business, and due to our own fictitious character, we bought in to it so that we can collide with dubious foreigners as investors as if only whites have monop ...
  read full comment

  True we've been brainwashed that government has to stay away from business, and due to our own fictitious character, we bought in to it so that we can collide with dubious foreigners as investors as if only whites have monopoly to invest.
  
  Ethiopian airways which is surpassing their own 2015 target by four plane in 2013 and over taking the whole of Africa as the number one and largest airline in Africa in terms of coverage is a state enterprise, and those running it did not come from Mars either but here in Africa.
  
  Ghana's problem is nothing but sheer dishonesty and laziness on all fronts.

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• Patriot 11 years ago

  They Knighted Him and gave him a cut of the fortunes of the great Obuasi.But having familiarised himself with the social and economic development of Johanesburg,Pretoria and all other mining cities of South Africa,my million ...
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  They Knighted Him and gave him a cut of the fortunes of the great Obuasi.But having familiarised himself with the social and economic development of Johanesburg,Pretoria and all other mining cities of South Africa,my million dollar question to Mr Jona is,why did he fail to do serious comparative industrial research into why over 100 years Ghana,and Obuasi, unlike South Africa and its mining cities have remained so backward as it was 100 years ago,and what they did right or what did we do wrong?And what we learned from their approach that could bring Obuasi to be transformed with its own Gold wealth in our new Ghana and to begin to mimic Johanesburg even in the next 50 years.? I hope John Mahama and his team will not go by their equalization mantra of X did it so why not Y,and take steps to go into the histories of both country's industrial policies that have accounted for this huge disparities between these mining cities,where South Africa has glass tower cities like Johanesburg with Ghana's OBUASI still shamefully a backward city.Somebody must explain this phenomenon to Ghanaians expecially the people of Adansi and Obuasi in particular. God save Ghana!

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• Isaac Kusi, Bronx, NY. 11 years ago

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  In the mid sixties when I attended Obuasi Secondary and Technical School, life was very good. In the spring you would see mist showering down the surrounding green mountains that ran from ...
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  In the mid sixties when I attended Obuasi Secondary and Technical School, life was very good. In the spring you would see mist showering down the surrounding green mountains that ran from the golf park and descended to Kofi Krom. I remember one Saturday when we took a trip to the top of the mountain to discover the source of the river. What a beautiful sight. Water dripped from a large rock and trickled down until it formed a stream. It was very cold under the canopy of trees. Downstream was a small reservoir about ten feet square, the villagers had built to collect the crystal clear water they would fetch to drink and use for their daily chores. There was the sky-high chimney from the gold smelter, seen miles away that billowed its acrid smoke into the sky and seemed to gradually dissipate into the surrounding mountains. Most of the roof in town was painted red because then mines owner General Spears did not appreciate the reflection of the sun into his eyes. There was an ash colored stream behind the AGC club that you would cross before going to Kwabrafoso. And you could smell cyanide when you crossed the bridge. We were told it was from the gold smelter.
  
  The General Mines Manager was called Sam Jonah. We never met him but his name was a household word in town. Our friends were from town so we knew what was going on. We’d pass the hencoops at Wawase, that had been built for the workers to live in. Although there was no diplomatic relations with South Africa, we’ll occasionally get “mines koko”, a type of porridge that was served to the miners way down south. And General Spears would come to school when he was in town to present a gold medal to the School prefect. So we named one house in his honor and he brought us his bust. I remember he presented the school with an ostrich made of gold. There were stories that the young miners would insert gold nuggets in their rectum and smuggle it out. Hey! Nobody got shot for that. After all what did they do with the money? They would drink local gin and the brothers from the north would cook “red meat” and drink pito and play their kora all night long. We also heard about the laborer who found a bar of gold behind a fence, returned it to his white boss and was rewarded with a packet of roofing sheets. The town had the highest case of tuberculosis in the country from the gases both under and above ground. There was a nice lake in the mines with a stock of fish, but we knew we could not drink or eat the fish from it. Times have gone by and the ownership of the mines has changed from Gen Spears to Tiny Roland’s Lonrho and now to late Harry Oppenheimer’s empire, Anglo American, De Beers, Anglo Gold, AnglogoldAshanti. In 1981, the Late President Liman organized a Gold symposium. It was estimated then that if we reached the target of 2 million ounces of gold per annum, there was enough gold to last Ghana for the next 700 years. Galamsey operation increased and the mining companies have surpassed that forecast with modern technology. Why should they exploit gradually for another 700 years if they can grab most now to augment their large reserves estimated at the size of three football fields. At the rate of mining, in a few decades, we’ll be talking of the California gold rush. We’ll tell our grand children, ”We used to have gold in Ghana”. And I’ll tell them that we sold it for pittance. The companies don’t play. They would shoot or sick their dogs on you to maul you to death if you attempt to steal their gold- the mine that they bought for $1.2 billion. The gold on the land of Adansiman, in modern day independent Ghana, the land of the rule of law. We’ve seen it all before. The Sharpsville massacre, when school kids were gunned down for protesting the introduction of Afrikaans language, the civil rights days in the US when white policemen would sick dogs on black protesters. You’d think the policy has changed. No, they still think the same way towards Africans. The mindset hasn’t changed. Except that we are practicing black on black violence. Its Ghanaian guards ordered to do the killing of fellow Ghanaians. But hey who dares challenge “the Cuban”. Had it not been for the battle of Cuito Canivale in Angola that brought the South Africans to the negotiating table, apartheid would still be in South Africa with minority rule. We don’t want those policies in Ghana. At least we’ve been given a token independence while they control our economy. Let there be rule of law. Whether it is Bogoso Gold Ltd of Canada, a notorious polluter of our land, spilling cyanide and destroying our rivers or Newmont of the USA But the companies are saying; “After all, those Africans, you can defecate in their drinking pots and compensate them with 50 thousand cedis each. They won’t complain. You can pollute their rivers with cyanide and get away with it. You can turn their crystal clear rivers into flowing brown mud. We’ve been successful in depleting their forest to near extinction. They need investors.”
  
  Last week in New York, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) imposed a $250,000 fine on a radio station for organizing a slap fest, an event whereby two girls would take turns slapping each other hard on the face, and posting the video on the Internet. The FCC action is what is needed in Ghana. If the mining companies pollute our rivers, lets impose a hefty fine that will affect their profit, and increase it when they repeat the offence, if they give orders to kill, lets prosecute them. Ex President Bush said ’Hit the racists in their pockets, that’s where they feel it most” The people are trying to survive by any means necessary. If they steal, arrest them and let the law deal with them. Don’t kill them. Apartheid has ended and its policies or semblance of it should not be introduced anywhere in Ghana and Africa. Isaac Kusi, New York

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• ANGRY DAD. 11 years ago

  Isaac well spoken, its a nice article

  Isaac well spoken, its a nice article

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• ANGRY DAD. 11 years ago

  Isaac well spoken, its a nice article

  Isaac well spoken, its a nice article

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• HOLY SINNER. 11 years ago

  Somebody enlighten me since this is the first time I am hearing of the intending closure of AGA.Sad news and for what reasons?Is there no more going to be no more gold mining in Ghana?I think that was our second source of inc ...
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  Somebody enlighten me since this is the first time I am hearing of the intending closure of AGA.Sad news and for what reasons?Is there no more going to be no more gold mining in Ghana?I think that was our second source of income;I am totally lost .Is this due to mismanagement or the precious stones are finished underneath? Please someone enlighten on this.

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• Paa Kojo 11 years ago

  Yes, very sure it is a news to me as well. If no one knows what this is all about and the reason in what our brother is coming with we should look at DERIOT in the USA how that town died out

  Yes, very sure it is a news to me as well. If no one knows what this is all about and the reason in what our brother is coming with we should look at DERIOT in the USA how that town died out

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• Adongo Tongo 11 years ago

  Below is the Chronicle Article:
  OBUASI MINE FACES CLOSURE … Over 1000 Workers To Be Laid-Off … Negotiations Underway To Avert Calamity
  
  Date published: January 17, 2014
  
  From Albert Nana Asante, Obuasi
  
  FEAR AND P ...
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  Below is the Chronicle Article:
  OBUASI MINE FACES CLOSURE … Over 1000 Workers To Be Laid-Off … Negotiations Underway To Avert Calamity
  
  Date published: January 17, 2014
  
  From Albert Nana Asante, Obuasi
  
  FEAR AND PANIC have gripped the people of Obuasi following reports that the management of Anglo Gold Ashanti (AGA) is considering shutting down its Obuasi mine if production fails to rise within the next two months.
  
  The recent threat by the mine follows an earlier decision, which saw about 430 workers of the mine losing their jobs.
  
  Obuasi’s production has seen continuous decline since 1995 in terms of total ounces of gold from its open pit operation. That of the underground, The Chronicle gathered, had also seen consistent decline since 1998.
  
  The mine’s performance has, therefore, not met merger expectations since 2004. The 25 percent fall in gold prices last year has also exacerbated the situation in the forward march of the company.
  
  The Chairman of the Ghana Mine Workers Union, Mr. Kwarko Mensah Gyakari, who confirmed the story to this paper said though the management of AGA had verbally informed the Union about its intention to close down the mine, it (Union) was yet to receive an official correspondence from the mining giant.
  
  “Yes, they’ve hinted us but what I can assure you is that we will scrutinize the proposal very well and ensure that workers get the best offer should an official correspondence get to us.”
  
  He added that the management had scheduled a meeting with the workforce where, they (workers) are expected to be informed of the latest development.
  
  A management member who spoke to the paper on condition of anonymity said there was little the company could do under the current situation. It would be recalled that, the Senior Vice President of Anglo Gold Ashanti, Ghana, Mr. Mark Morcombe, during a presentation in Obuasi last year, under the theme: “Renewing the Obuasi Mine; Managing Challenges through Innovation and Best Practices”, announced that an exercise had been completed to understand the labour structure required for the mine.
  
  “In the short-term, we intend to right-size the operation; and in the medium-term, to transition the operation to a modern, productive mine,” he said.
  
  “The transition to mechanization will, regrettably, also result in a phased process of retrenchments over the next two years due to a combination of decline in gold price, increased overall labour cost, and the increase in other input costs such as power and materials.
  
  “AngloGold Ashanti is mindful of the impact this process will have, though it remains necessary to create a sustainable operation that is able to sustain high-quality jobs and support the economy for decades to come.”
  
  Meanwhile, a number of traders have threatened to relocate to other cities as they fear if the threat by the mining company is carried through, it would affect their businesses. They are, therefore, appealing to the President to intervene in ensuring that the mine was not shut down.

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• True talk 11 years ago

  Months ago the MP from Obuasi suggested taxing prostitution. Obuasi can take advantage of this timely opportunity to generate revenue

  Months ago the MP from Obuasi suggested taxing prostitution. Obuasi can take advantage of this timely opportunity to generate revenue

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• Tete Quashie 11 years ago

  Dear writer,as a son of Adansi,the depth of your knowledge of the land and your your seeming indepth foresight and concern for the future of Obuasi as it ties up to the future development of Adansi is highly commendable.The o ...
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  Dear writer,as a son of Adansi,the depth of your knowledge of the land and your your seeming indepth foresight and concern for the future of Obuasi as it ties up to the future development of Adansi is highly commendable.The objective manner in which you have analysed the pros and cons of the developments occuring in your motherland makes you the most qualified person to get involved in the future of this land and its promise to its people both present and future generations.You must therefore form and lead an NGO with the help of like minded people to lead the fight to save this beautiful land and bring to fruition the potentially viable vision of a huge socio - economic development potential of Adansiman with Obuasi as the magnetic fulcrum for its future development and prosperity. Good Luck to you. God bless.

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• Attah Kay, New Jersey 11 years ago

  Baffour, your piece is very insightful and I only hope that good ears will hear and act. Ghana needs people like you in leadership positions so that your creative imaginations could be tapped and developed to propel our dear ...
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  Baffour, your piece is very insightful and I only hope that good ears will hear and act. Ghana needs people like you in leadership positions so that your creative imaginations could be tapped and developed to propel our dear nation to prosperity. Kudos!

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• Yfeaceli 11 years ago

  It is always open, and you treat them the same industry conference as Bailey, said change was accompanied by a white homeowner during a financial calamity., flm loans, 8-(,

  It is always open, and you treat them the same industry conference as Bailey, said change was accompanied by a white homeowner during a financial calamity., flm loans, 8-(,

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• frank obuasi/miner 11 years ago

  Current managers are cause, becos de hide de truth, yes almighty will punish them.

  Current managers are cause, becos de hide de truth, yes almighty will punish them.

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• Boakye Emmanuel 10 years ago

  I personally this there is hope for Obuasi after closing the mine........I HAVE AN A PLAN THAT OBUASI CAN BE KNOWN FOR...How do I convey this message and who are the right people i can contact?

  I personally this there is hope for Obuasi after closing the mine........I HAVE AN A PLAN THAT OBUASI CAN BE KNOWN FOR...How do I convey this message and who are the right people i can contact?

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