OWERI MINES EMPLOYS FOUR FEMALES (PAGE 11, JAN 18, 2011)

The Oweri Mines, operators of the Konongo Gold Mines, has employed four females to work at its plant site.
This is in line with management’s policy of supporting females in its operational community to enable them to build their capacity more meaningfully.
The Operations Manager of the Oweri Mines, Mr Rogers Bannister, who briefed the Daily Graphic about the opportunity offered the four female employees during a media interaction, said the action was the first of management to offer the females an opportunity to work at any plant site of a mining company in the country.
He explained that the safety officer of the mines, Mr Maxwell Toffah, had already taken the female employees through interactive training sessions to make them more familiar with the operations of the mines.
That, he explained, was meant to build and sustain the confidence of the female employees to excel in their new environment.
He said they had also gone through safety, health, environmental and risk induction exercises to enable them to identify any form of risks and hazards that might confront them in the course of their operations.
Mr Bannister pointed out that as part of measures to make the female employees useful to the Oweri Mines, “they have been trained to operate forklifts, as well as grinding and wielding machines”.
He gave the assurance that the “Owere mines is doing everything possible to employ as many women as possible to work at sensitive areas just as their male counterparts, when production starts fully in the first quarter of 2011”.
“Women need to be empowered in all fields and management is desirous of supporting females in its operational area to enable them to realise their potentials and contribute to the country’s accelerated socio-economic development, ” he stressed.
Mr Bannister also gave the assurance that management would provide the youth with more employment avenues.
He said already a number of unemployed youth in the Asante Akyem North District “have applied and they would benefit from employment opportunities being created by the Oweri Mines”.
He said since management was also concerned about its social responsibilities, it donated GH¢10, 000 to support the construction of a police station at Odumase last year.
He explained that the gesture became necessary because the rented structure housing the Odumase police had become a death trap as a result of irregular maintenance.
He said management also presented a laptop computer to the Konongo Divisional Police Command to enhance efficiency in keeping and retrieving documents.
“ We have also donated GH¢5,000.00 to support works on the Juabenhene’s palace, repaired the bridge over a river at Odumase and paid over GH¢123,573.00 as compensation for damaged crops when we started our operations at the mines, ” he said.