The General Manager of Edikan Mine, Daniel Egya-Mensah, said this at a community engagement at Dankyira in the Central Region.

The event was to cement existing relationship between the company and the community.

The stakeholders agreed that there was the need for the mining industry to serve a beneficial purpose to communities and their people.

The Edikan Mine has been operating in the country since 2012.

It has over the years extended a helping hand in the form of infrastructure, educational scholarship, among others, to communities affected by its concessions and operations.

The community engagement was to, among others, declare the intention of a moratorium on an additional mining area at Nkosuo for Edikan Mining.

Engagement

Mr Egya-Mensah said the engagement was also to educate stakeholders, especially the local community and the media, on the moratorium.

He said it was also to explain the legal basis for the declaration of the moratorium, and to solicit support for compliance.

The Kontihene of Denkyira Traditional Area and the Chief of Badoa, Dr Nana Twum Barima, who chaired the occasion, also urged the people to understand the situation on the ground, saying the government was not against legal and responsible mining.

He said based on the company’s track record, he was optimistic that the additional concession would help to develop the area and protect the river bodies.

The Principal Community Relations Officer of the Minerals Commission in the Western Region, Eunice Donkoh, educated the people on their role, and how they could acquire permits to start community mining.

He further educated the people on how affected communities could obtain the relevant compensation.

Some community members, who expressed their views, called on the company not to renege on its promises, and also urged its management to consider offering employment opportunities to the youth in the area in order to reduce unemployment in the area.