The Coordinator for the National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme (NAELP), Dr. Louise Carol Serwaa Donkor, has disclosed that her outfit will in June, 2023 host a Mining Corporate Social Responsibility Exposition to afford mining companies the opportunity to showcase their CSR and decades of investment in mining communities and by extension Ghana.
She detailed that the Mining Expo will be a two-day event which will bring together stakeholders and players in the industry to present to government and nation their current developmental projects and future plans for their catchment communities.
This came to light when Dr. Carol Serwaa Donkor paid a courtesy call on Kibi Goldfields Limited, to get their buy-in on collaborating in the creation of local but viable and sustainable businesses within the operational communities of the company.
Dr Donkor was optimistic that this partnership and creation of local businesses will help mitigate the absence of goodwill and “give Ghanaians a proof of your relevance, else they may never notice the true difference between you and an illegal miner”.
She assured the team, that when these ideas are accepted, a good assessment of the community will be done to ensure that the businesses being set up are born out of the actual needs of the people in the community.
The NAELP coordinator by this, extended a formal invitation to the management of Kibi Goldfields Limited to come on board the Expo and make known their good works during their period of operation.
Dr. Donkor also made a passionate appeal for a collaborative and collective approach in reclaiming and rehabilitation of degraded lands within the mining districts in areas outside of the mining concessions.
Kibi Goldfields welcomes proposal of NAELP
The Managing Director of Kibi Goldfields Limited, Mr. Kofi Dafo Dartey, warmly welcomed the ideas and proposals of NAELP and assured her of his outfit’s readiness to partner the agency on any project that will help tell the success and impactful stories of the Kibi Goldfields Limited in a more profound manner.
Madam Mariama Amidu, the Health and Safety Manager of the company gave an update of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility projects since 2018 in their operational communities. She cited boreholes, shops, health centers and hostels as examples of projects they have embarked on.
To this effect, Madam Mariama noted that the organization has set up a Livelihood Empowerment Fund with a liaison committee that vets and selects which projects should be sponsored for the community by the fund.
The team however made an appeal to government to aid them flash out some illegal miners who have surfaced with metal detectors and mining around their concession. They were of the view that these illegal miners are foreigners from Niger, Guinea and other neighboring countries.
Prior to this, Dr. Donkor called on the Ghana Chamber of Mines to collaborate with government through her outfit in creating visible projects that will make lasting impact in mining communities and the country as a whole.
The coordinator acknowleged and applauded the various projects undertaken by the Chamber of Mines and other mining companies to contribute to the lives of mining communities. However, she was of the view that a more lasting impact will be made and felt, if the Chamber and Mining companies act collaboratively with NAELP to put together resources to create a bigger project that can absorb a huge number of the youth in employment.
She also declared NAELP’s interest in shaping the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives of mining companies to align with government’s priorities to ensuring the impact made with CSR stays.
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