THE need to economically empower the youth at the catchment areas of Anglogold Ashanti, Obuasi gold mines to enhance their social status and enable them to make meaningful contribution to sustainable national development has now taken the centre stage of the activities of the mining company’s management.
The beginning of 2008 has seen various initiatives by the management of the mines initiating various small and medium-scale industries within its catchment area as its contribution to offer viable employment avenues to a section of the youth, and so far, the initiative is yielding positive results.
Dubbed Small and Medium Enterprise Development Initiative (SMEDI) Projects, which is part of the company’s Local Economic Development (LED) Projects, Anglogold Ashanti Obuasi Mines has over the past one year established a garment, aquaculture, piggery, gold and jewellery projects aimed at creating job opportunities for the youth, and those who have been engaged are leaving nothing to chance to make the projects viable.
The Obuasi Garment factory — one of the initiatives of Anglogold Ashanti, Obuasi Mines — for example, which started operations in February this year and has now employed about 50 tailors, contracted to produce as many as 10,000 overalls per annum, for use by the workers at the mines, is on course.
A few months after it started operations, it has been able to supply almost 3500 overalls to the mining company, and indications are that, the garment factory, which is a collaboration between the mining company and the Obuasi Tailors Association and other private investors, would be able to meet its target, thereby sustaining the project to make life more meaningful to the employees and their dependants.
The aquaculture project, which was initiated by the company with an initial investment budget of $639,000, is also on course.
As of April this year, the company had spent more than $300,000 on the project, which involved landscaping and infrastructure developments.
As many as 30 cages are to be installed at Adubirem, where the pond is located, and so far, nine cages have been installed with eight of them fully stocked with 25,000 fingerlings, which are expected to be fully matured by the end of October this year.
A project is also underway to hatch the various fish to enhance adequate supply to the beneficiary communities, and when it becomes fully operational, many of the youth at the catchment area would either be employed directly or indirectly to reduce the poverty level associated in rural communities.
Apart from the hatchery, a three-unit work camps have also been completed to offer accommodation to about 50 youth who would be permanently employed when the project becomes fully operational.
So far, 15 local youth have been permanently employed at the aquaculture project.
The piggery project, which is a collaboration between the Municipal Assembly and the management of Anglogold Ashanti Obuasi Mines on the other hand, has a long-term vision of producing raw materials for the processing of pork into sausages and other products for the Obuasi Municipality and its environs.
The construction of a four-room pen each for 18 selected groups are progressing steadily, and when completed, four piglets would be donated by the company to make the project sustainable.
The Gold Jewellery project, initiated by the mining company, is also estimated to train as many as 100 youth in the catchment area over a five–year period.
This is to enable them to acquire the requisite skills to produce quality jewellery from which they would earn a meaningful living and contribute to sustainable national development.
So far, the mining company has completed an edifice that would be used for the jewellery project and the management are also in serious discussion with a private investor for partnership on how the project would begin.
Anglogold Ashanti, Obuasi Mines has also released 25 acres from its concessions for the construction of a mortuary to augment the facility at the AGA Hospital mortuary, which is almost always congested, forcing bereaved family members to send their corpses to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital mortuary at a greater cost and risk.
AS part of its commitment, the management has decided to donate two sets of 12-body capacity refrigerators to the Obuasi Municipal Assembly to be used as part of the Assembly's shares in the project.
They are also in consultation with Animwaah Medical Centre, located at Emena, near Kumasi, on how the project could start.
Apart from these initiatives, the management is considering a collaboration with the youth for the cultivation of oil palm plantation and the construction of mills for the processing of the oil palm that would be produced when the project starts, to accelerate income generation.
Also in serious consideration is the cultivation of citrus plantation through the collaborative efforts with the youth to feed the residents of the municipality and its environs.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic on the initiative by Anglogold Ashanti, Obuasi Mines, the Chief of Sanso, Nana Bawua Asiamoa Kotokuo, commended the management of Anglogold for their sense of initiative to build the capacity of the youth at the catchment area of the mines and empower them economically.
He pointed out that with these initiatives, and the potentials they offer, the industries would soon grow not only to absorb the teeming unemployed youth most of whom are engaged in social vices that constantly put them into trouble, but would also accelerate the pace of socio-economic development of the municipality.
Explaining, he said the Obuasi Garment Factory for example, of which he is the Managing Director, had much prospects because it had the potential of meeting the target of the mining company and source for other contractual agreement from corporate bodies.
"This is a new project which seeks to build the skills of the youth here in various ways, and with a little commitment from the youth, the poverty level would go down considerably," he stressed.
Nana Asiamoa Kotokuo, however, appealed to the management of Anglogold Ashanti to consider sponsoring some of the tailors in the company for further training in South Africa to enable them to acquire new skills that would enable them to develop their potential to the fullest.
"The company has a vision of expanding very fast to enable our production capacity to meet international level, and it is the further training in South Africa which will equip the tailors to acquire such skills, so I will use this opportunity to appeal to management to consider sponsoring some of the tailors to South Africa to begin such training," he pleaded.
He said when the project became fully operational, free training would be offered to junior high school graduates who had interest in fashion designs to enable them to also build their future and contribute to sustainable national development.
On their future prospects, he said, "We want to develop very fast, so the 50 members working directly with us would soon be increased to 100 to enable us to meet other potential targets, to increase revenue,” he hinted, adding that "this project is a springboard that would open other avenues for us if we maintain our quality and meet set targets, so we are not leaving anything to chance".
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