Sansu Residents Threaten To Resist Anglogold

Residents of Sansu in Obuasi have resolved to resist AngloGold Ashanti Ghana from taking over their land to begin the mining of about 6.5 million ounces of gold for the next 17 years. The people, mainly the youth, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that the move by AngloGold was to deprive them of their inheritance and make them perpetual slaves to the mining company. The reaction of the residents was fuelled by rumours that the company was to maintain only 500 of its 6,500 workforce. But in a sharp rebuttal, Mr John Owusu of the Public Relations Department of AngloGold told the Daily Graphic that the company was unaware of any threats from the community, adding that it had paid the residents their full compensation. He said the people might have been deceived by the fact that because the company had delayed in moving to the site after all these years, it had forgotten about the deal. �Most of these people are illegal miners and after the government�s task force had gone to close down their pits/holes, they have been angered. They want the company to employ them during the relocation to the sites, but they do not have the requisite skills for employment and there is very little we can do,� Mr Owusu said. At a meeting with miners in Obuasi last Thursday, the General Secretary of the Ghana Mine Workers Union, Mr William Prince Ankra, said the number of workers who would be affected by the retrenchment was yet to be determined. He allayed the fears of the workers and promised that everybody would be treated fairly. Last Thursday, AngloGold Ashanti Ghana announced a major retrenchment exercise by August this year. The company is expected to spend about $220 million in settlement packages which are being negotiated for among the management, the local union and representatives of the Ghana Mine Workers Union. It will, however, within two years re-employ a small highly skilled workforce, in line with a redesign plan, as it moves from its northern site to a less-labour intensive southern site. The company claims the action to retrench some of the workers is as a result of the rising cost of production, high under-performance of workers and an unstable world market price.