Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister, has called for calm among communities in the Upper West Region where gold mining is carried out following recent agitating by the communities in respect of the mining activities.
He urged the agitating gold mining communities to follow the appropriate procedures to get their demands addressed rather than resorting to violence.
He admonished that violence could undermine the peace and security of the communities.
Dr Salih said this during a stakeholder engagement including government authorities, traditional authorities, community leaders and officials of Azumah Resources Limited, which is prospecting gold in parts of the region.
He said in recent times, the office of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council had received petitions from some of Azumah Resources Limited’s host communities in the region making some demands including stricter monitoring of the activities of Azumah Resources in the region.
Dr. Salih indicated that the stakeholders in the region would work in unison with the company and the agitating communities to ensure that the demands of those communities were met but through the appropriate and legally acceptable means.
Mr Solomon Dery, the Community Relations Manager of Azumah Resources Ltd, indicated discussions were ongoing with the necessary stakeholders to ensure a win-win situation between the mining company and the agitating communities and for the benefit of the country as a whole.
Mr Dery said the claims that the company is mining gold in the region is not true but that they have discoursed gold and secured mining leases to mine but that has not yet commenced.