PRESTEA, THE SMELTING TOWN OF LACK

Phyliss Adjoa Mensah is a 35 year old lady. Her boyfriend of 5 years has just got down on his knees and proposed the ‘M’ word.  Adjoa, as she is fondly called, has waited long enough for this day and in a split second, all the wedding fantasies she has been nuturing ever since she was a little girl, began gushing in. The ideas were still intact. She only shut them, when Kwesi wasn’t forth coming. At a point, she thought he suffered from gamophobia.  

With the enthusiasm of a child at play, she sets off to Agya Gold man retail shop in Mallam to purchase some jewelry. It was gold or nothing else. Even Kwesi proposed with an 18 Caret of the lustrous metal.  Her set would include a gold necklace, matching earrings, and bangles. Her bride’s maids would not be left out. A gold watch for her fiancé’s brother and necklaces for her soon to be mother and sister in law was the perfect gift to win their hearts eternally.

 Gold is considered one the best fits for ceremonies and celebrations

Whether the colour or the metal, gold is considered one the best fits for ceremonies and celebrations. There has always been an element of insanity to gold’s charm and over the years, this metal has driven people to extremes in their quest to possess it, and the price, simply beyond a matter of supply and demand.

According to a 2014 United States Geological Survey (USGS) report, Ghana ranks tenth in the world in gold production and gold accounts for more than ninety percent of mineral sector earnings in the country. And Prestea is a community synonymous to gold mining in the Western region of Ghana.

This mining town located in the Prestea Huni valley district is rich, at least on paper. The Prestea mine is controlled by a multi-national company, Golden Star resources and for a company that controls about 90 percent of gold production in the area, much is expected from them.

They promise jobs, infrastructural as well as other social developments. But residents of Prestea see too few benefits or developments and bear too much of the burden”.

Domic Nyame

“What they deliver on, compared to the amount of damage to our other resources are incomparable. Take for instance our sources of water which have been damaged is nothing compared to a few poly tanks they provide”. This was according to Dominic Nyame, the secretary general of Concerned Citizens Association of Prestea (COCAP).


Aside royalties paid to the central government, mining companies pay, or ought to distribute 10 percent to local communities via the office of the administration of stool lands, to be used for community development.

“It was agreed that for every ounce of gold, one percent will be given to the community for development. Till date, we have not set eyes on any amount. Golden star has not been accountable to us and our community remains underdeveloped”. Nana Kwaw Nsowa, the Abakomahene, of Himan traditional area bitterly explained.

“We have plans of expanding our health facility and tackling the drainage problem in our community. The only thing they have helped us with, is an ICT center”.  Nana continued. The claim is that the relationship between gold mining and social development is at par. 

But the mining company alone is not to blame. Small scale miners and galamsey operators are the other part of the coin. These individuals engage in surface mining and the implications are glaring.

A research conducted by the center for environmental Impact Analysis in 2008, Indicated that 67percent of galamsey operators are indigenes of the land. These individuals resort to illegal means as a way of getting by. Although his outfit is strongly against the practice, “man must eat”, noted Dominic Nyame.

Of the seven springs in the Prestea community, only one is currently in existence. History in Prestea is being threatened as one of its pride, a still member of the community, the Ankobra River has been gravely disturbed by mining activities.  
  

River Ankobra

“My portion of land is 200 meters from the River Ankobra and as the CEO of Jimmy and Group small scale mining, we do not go beyond our boundary. Our activities do not in any way pollute the water”. This was according to Michael Kwarteng, a licensed small scale miner close to the river.

But Michael Kwarteng’s defense is just one out of the lot. The Ankobra River has virtually turned milky rendering it unwholesome. Residents have turned to water from other sources like borehole, wells as well as taps. These too have been proven to posses significant health hazard.

Per the research by CEIA, metals such as arsenic, manganese, lead, cobalt, mercury, cadmium and zinc in water samples, were found to be higher than the World Health Organization and the United States Environmental Protection Agency permissible guideline values.

Sadly, Sylvia Wadie, the planning officer at the district assembly office noted that, “Because the community does not have any choice, they use it”.

The political tie that is safeguarding small scale operators is alarming. With a claim of being given a license by the Mineral commission, these small scale miners end up torturing the earth and its elements.

Standng, Nana Kwaw Nsowa

What is more worrying is that the “local authorities have been rendered powerless. We are even told that if gold is found here in the palace, the place will be razed down for extraction.” Nana Kwaw Nsowa reiterated.

”The town belongs to them and sometimes in an attempt to maintain order, I too have to run for my life”, said Enoch Konadu, the environmental health officer at the district assembly office.

A triadic sect is in the battle for the ostentatious metal in Prestea, and as is the case, as these three elephants fight, the ground is suffering.

The scramble for gold by the mining company, the small scale miners and galamsey operators has resulted in the formation of man-made mountains due to systematic blasting undertaken by these groups.

The lands have been depleted and what is left, although vast, is sheer embarrassment to the people of Prestea.

“Truthfully, when we chop off the trees, we do not carry out any afforestation exercise, what we do is fill the land with gravels and sand after we have exhausted a particular potion” Michael Kwarteng continued.

Breathing in Prestea is a calculated effort. Dust, black smoke, bad odour, mercuric oxide and other forms of chemicals pollute the air due to mining activities in Prestea.

 When CEIA spoke to 1600 respondents, 67 percent of them mentioned dust, while 19 percent stated that the discharge of chemicals was what constituted air pollution. Consequently, most residents suffer from silicosis, silico-tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases.

Gold is here with us and in the attempt to satisfy the growing demand for luxury and other ostentatious items, these miners employ any means available, even at the greatest environmental cost. Mining in itself is not a bad practice, it is the means to getting the resource that is in question.

For instance, Phyllis’s ring and the jewellery set for her and the future in-laws will demand that daily, thousands of tons of earth be dug and cyanide, sprinkled to separate the ore, which obviously leaves behind a scar.

Reforms are needed and authorities must ensure that miners employ environmentally and socially responsible methods to salvage the situation.

Until then, it may turn out that your gold watch, necklace, or laptop wiring may have a morsel of Prestea’s pain smelt with it.

BY: Eugenia Akorfa Kumi