The Ghana Mine Workers Union has denied reports that some mining companies have fired their workers because of the power crisis.
[contextly_sidebar id=”RzJxk2QKaNmbOvrn6aKmofdj1l0ox2vk”]The General Secretary of the Union, Prince William Ankrah told Citi News, “in terms of the energy crisis, no company has come to my office or written a letter to that effect saying that because of the energy crisis we are going to do A and B”.
He explained that mining companies in the country have strategized their operations and adapted to changes in the energy sector, to continue to stay in business.
Prince William Ankrah told Citi News that mining companies that have carried out retrenchment exercises did not do so because of the energy crisis, citing a recent one conducted by Anglogold Ashanti.
He said: “As we speak, no mining company can use that as an excuse. They have adjusted the work schedule to accommodate that. What they have told us have nothing to do with energy crisis. They had genuine and honest attempts to scale down numbers…but not to do with energy crisis”.
“Anglogold was re-organizing. It was a major issue for all, nothing to do with energy crisis…whether that (the energy crisis) had come or not, they would have done what they did”.
Mr Ankrah’s comments follow President John Mahama’s statement that smart businesses were investing to improve their production capacities.
The President was addressing workers on May Day which fell on Friday, May 1.
Prince William Ankrah however remained optimistic that the energy crisis will end soon, and called on President Mahama to be resolute on his resolve to solve it by the end of the year.
“He [President Mahama] has to ensure that the [Power] Minister and his team do not just give him promises that they cannot deliver. If they don’t deliver, you must fire them, so that people will take you seriously”, he said.
He also called on Ghanaians to “shift this from politics and see it as a national crisis, so that together we find a solution”.
By: Eugenia Tenkorang/citifmonline.com/Ghana