Months after the mining lease of Future Global Resources (FGR) was terminated by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, pressure has begun to mount on the government to name a new investor for the mine.
Government, acting on the advice of the Minerals Commission and the Attorney-General on September 18, 2024, terminated the mining lease of FGR, operators of the Bogoso-Prestea Mine. Among a number of reasons for this termination is the breach of the contractual terms of the lease.
According to reports, FGR failed to develop the mine as required due to financial challenges which also culminated in unpaid salaries of workers.
After a series of demonstrations and picketing by the Ghana Mine Workers Union (GMWU) to get the government to act, the Ministry in response terminated the lease as the Minerals Commission took control of the mines.
But the Workers’ Union believes a new investor ought to have been named by now as the continuous delay by the government is heavily impacting the workers of these mines.
General Secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers Union tells The High Street Journal in an interview that although the Mineral Commission has taken over the mines, it does not have the financial muscle to properly manage the mine and pay workers.
As a result the welfare of the workers since the termination has been in jeopardy.
He explained that, “the Minerals Commission came in as a stopgap measure to ensure that the place is not left to deteriorate. But the Minerals Commission will manage the place until a new investor has gotten it. So, our conditions as far as the union is concerned haven’t improved. In fact, the Minerals Commission, you and I know, is not a mining company. It doesn’t have the financial capacity to meet the obligations by way of emoluments of workers.”
The union is therefore calling on the government to speed up processes to announce a new investor for the mine as a lot of investors have shown interest.
It is the view of the workers that it will be in the best interest of the government, workers, and the people of Bogoso Prestea for a new investor to be named early enough to take over the mine.
The General Secretary maintained that the delay “is having a huge impact on the workers. Between the 20th of September and today, you know, the conditions have been the same. So workers are really, really, really under a lot of pressure.”
“The earlier this investor is named and they get on the ground and begin to hit the ground running, the better for all of us, workers, government, union, the communities of Bogoso and Prestea. We believe that whatever short-term or whatever stopgap measures or arrangements are in place at the moment are not sustainable,” he added.
He continued that quite a number of prospective investors have shown interest. “And so, as a union, we are hopeful that in the coming days, there will be an announcement by the government to the effect that a new investor has been named. An investor on the ground who has the financial capacity to meet the business is the only sure way to guarantee the sustainability of the mine and by extension employment of these workers.”
