Since Cultural Survival's Global Response campaign in 2003 to prevent gold mining in forests reserves in Ghana, one company has been successful in pushing their plans for the construction of a gold mine into reality. Newmont Mining Company, world renowned for human rights and environmental abuses, began construction on the Ahafo gold mine inside the Ghana Forest Reserves in 2008. Since then, residents close to the mine have complained that the company has not held to their promises of adequate compensation. They also note such problems as "unemployment, poor road network, high cost of food stuffs, water pollution as well as the outbreak of malaria, typhoid and other water-borne diseases",(Ghana Business News).
Now, Newmont is planning another phase of construction on the mine, this time underground. The Subika Underground Mining Project is currently awaiting approval from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Residents urge the company to first comply with its compensation policy before beginning another round of construction which they believe will only lead to further problems that they are currently facing. If construction continues without attending to their complaints, residents are prepared to publicly demonstrate against Newmont.
Read more on GhanaBusinessNews.com and the Bank Information Center's coverage of the Ahafo Gold Mine.
