Residents Of Old Wassa Akosombo In Battle With Mining Company For Failing To Fulfil Agreement
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Old Wassa Akosombo is a farming community in the Wassa East District of the Western Region.
Settlers in the community are in battle with a mining company, Golden Star Mining over failure to fulfil promises made to them before relocating them to different place.
The residents however believe they were deceived by management of the company per the initial negotiations, the company failed to meet their demands.
The aggrieved residents noted that; in the year 2006, when the then Westford Mining handed over the mines to Wassa Golden Star Mining, settlers who are mainly farmers engaged management of Wassa Golden Star Mining to resettle them to a different location that would enable the mining company to carry out it operational activities without any obstacles which the indigenous of Old Wassa Akosombo agreed to that.
According to the indigenous people and residents, they had grown their cocoa trees and other food crops that they solely depend on for their livelihood and earn income out of the farm produces to cater for their families but per the agreement, according to the aggrieved farmers, it was agreed that management of Wassa Golden Star Mining Limited will provide means of transport to convey the farmers to visit their farms and back but nothing of that sort has been seen since the resettlement was done.
The farmers further claimed that the management of the mining company also assured the indigenous people of Old Wassa Akosombo of providing them with portable good drinking water but that has also not been done.
The farmers are claiming they can no longer continue to stay in the new resettlement provided by the mining company while their cocoa farms and food crops are destroyed because they cannot visit their farms to take proper care of their farm produce while Wassa Golden Star Mining Limited continuously operate to gain.
The farmers have therefore vowed to go back to their Old Wassa Akosombo community to resettle to take proper care of their farm produce especially their cocoa farms which used to give them income for their livelihood.
This paper made several efforts to get the management of Wassa Golden Star Mining Limited at Wassa Akyempim to get their reaction to the concerns raised by the Old Wassa Akosombo indigenous people but we were denied entry because management did not give prior notice of our coming
