The Akwatiahene, Osabarima Kofi Boateng III, has advised the youth who would be engaged in the Youth in Mining Employment Module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) to strictly abide by best mining practices.
He especially warned them against polluting rivers and streams since that bad practice was a health hazard for those using water from the rivers and streams.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at his palace at Akwatia, Osabarima Boateng said users of those polluted water sources
suffered from a number of water-borne diseases.
He said he was delighted to know that the new programme would train the youth in modern mining techniques in addition to the youth embarking on environmental conservation.
Osabarima Boateng asked the NYEP to positively supervise the work of the youth miners so that they would do the proper things such as protecting rivers and streams.
He said they should refrain from mining close to the rivers or wash in them to avoid pollution.
Touching on the socio-economic development of the area, he said bid proposals of 10 companies had been opened for serious study by the Divestiture Implementation Committee (DIC) to decide which of them should be given to the Great Consolidated Diamond Limited (GCDL) to run.
He said Akwatia needed an investor who would care about the development of the town by fulfilling its social responsibilities to the people.
Osabarima Boateng said the new company should take land reclamation very seriously so that mined-out areas could be used for agriculture and other purposes.
He suggested that the company be given to a Ghanaian group with the necessary capital, equipment and know-how to revamp the GCD which had ceased operation since 2007 as a result of under-capitalization and use of obsolete plant and equipment.