Some employees of the company staged a demonstration on Monday to resist the transition which formally began on Monday.

Mr. Johnson, on Eyewitness News explained that the move was aimed at sustaining the operations of the company.

“As management, we have a duty and a right to make decisions that are not only right for employees but all stakeholders. And I am talking about communities, I am talking about investors, I am talking about government and I am talking about employees themselves. We take all of these into the decisions that we make. If we have to make decisions solely based on the interests of one category of stakeholders, we might be running the mine down and we believe that as management it is better to have a sustainable operation.”

He indicated the company’s decision to employ workers on contract basis will still serve the interest of the workers.

“We are making this decision to prolong the life of the mine and workers would have work to do whether they are working directly under the umbrella or on contract. They would have work to do for a longer period.”” Mr. Johnson explained.

Petition against layoffs

The workers had earlier petitioned Parliament over Goldfields’ intended layoff.

According to the Union, the move by the company amounted to unfair labour practice.

The General Secretary of the Union, Prince William Ankrah who presented the petition had indicated that the basis for the company’s actions is unfounded and could result in the loss of revenue for many of the workers.

“Goldfields intends having its own way. We are a law-abiding union, we’ve had stability in our industry for many years. We deem it expedient to make sure that we present the petition to the honourable House so they understand the dynamics and seeing how best to address the issue…We are demanding that Goldfields cannot do what they intend doing by subjecting our members to a mining contract. Members will lose revenue streams,” he said.

The Union later dragged Goldfields to court.

In the writ, the workers prayed the court to restrain Goldfields from going ahead with the intended redundancy exercise.

But the court in its ruling on March 2, 2018, dismissed the injunction application.

The court presided over by Justice Laurenda Owusu, said the mining company risks losing more if the court halts the ongoing layoffs before a determination of the substantive matter on whether they acted within law.

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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In general view, Gold Fields Ghana Limited (GFGL) was incorporated in Ghana in 1993 as the legal entity holding the Tarkwa concession mining rights with Government of Ghana owning just 10% interest. The Tarkwa Gold Mine operates under seven mining leases covering a total area of approximately 20,825 hectares. The company shares the vision to become the global leader in sustainable gold mining.

[contextly_sidebar id=”eikMGaqdSazgyBcFLNpelrqCaGRRSP59″]Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Gold Mine;

–Is the Largest Portfolio among the Goldfields West African Portfolio which employs directly and indirectly about 8,000 Ghanaians and holds the title as the Largest Employer in the Private Sector.

–Is the Largest Taxpayer in Ghana for some years now in Ghana and by pouring into the country’s coffers of GHc501 million as of 2016, a greater cushion to the country’s affairs.

–Provides infrastructure as part of developing education, health, water and sanitation.

–Has an enviable record in sustainable community development.

From the above, it is clear to all Ghanaians that, the survival of the Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Gold Mine is very imperative to the;

–Taxes and Royalties to the state

–Survival of the Local Economy of Tarkwa and its environs

–Job Security of its employees and by extension a ripple effect on the defendants of the direct and indirect beneficiaries of the company.

–Development of the traditional structures of the various stools within the catchment of the company.

1,700 Jobs to be cut by Gold Fields Ghana Limited

Without politicizing the whole issue, first of all, in my singular opinion, the thematic reasons of the company to make a transition from owner to contract mining, currently is not much convincing after;

–The company enjoyed an 11-year Development Agreement signed between Goldfields Ghana and Ghana Government in March 2016.
–The company’s corporate tax rate was reduced from a fixed 35% to 32.5%.
–The royalties payment of the company linked to the gold price, a plus to the company as a result of fluctuating Gold price on the world market.
–The company received concessions on import and other duties.

All the above powerful incentives to the company just last year, opened the gateway to the company to make enough financial savings which became the leverage and framework for revitalizing the Damang Reinvestment, and have now made the Damang Portfolio as one of the quality assets in our portfolio.

Notwithstanding the above, I may not have the legal rights to attack the management of the Gold Fields Ghana Limited on their decision, but reject it completely because if for instance every worker has at least 10 dependants by the 1,700 workers, this translates into 17,000 plus Ghanaians that are going to suffer the backlash at a point where unemployment is a national threat.

On this note, it is clear the workers of Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Gold Mine and other stakeholders, deserve better which will become the fulcrum around which the development of Tarkwa and Ghana can revolve.

I therefore call on all Goldfields workers, traditional rulers within Tarkwa, political leaders of the assembly and constituency, to rise up and protect the heritage of Tarkwa and its local economy.

The NPP agenda of Job Creation, Job Protection and Business Development

The ambitious 2016 manifesto of the New Patriotic Party which led to the unprecedented victory of Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo which led to;

–Scrapping of nuisance taxes
–Reduction of VAT
–Resuscitation of companies with stimulus packages
–Reduction of port tariffs
–Giving Tax incentives to companies that employ fresh graduates and even plans underway to reduce corporate taxes to 20%, will not be happy to accept such loss of jobs in just one company after all the interventions in place to create more jobs, protect jobs and support growth of businesses at the time the NPP government is working assiduously to make the private sector the engine of the nation’s growth.

Members of the Opposition NDC have started blaming the decision of Goldfields Ghana Limited as a failure of the NPP government, a position I disagree with, and thus call on the government to step in fully with immediate effect.

Way Forward

I humbly through this medium petition the office of;

The President of the Republic of Ghana

The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources

The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations

The Parliament of Ghana

The Minerals Commission

The MP, Tarkwa Nsuaem, Vice Chair, Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy

The MP, Prestea-Huni Valley, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources

The Municipal Chief Executive, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality

The Presiding Member, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality

The Paramount Chief, Wassa Fiase Traditional Council

The Traditional Ruler, Apinto Stool Lands

Ghana Mine Workers Union

Gold Fields Ghana Limited

Gold Fields Workers Union

The Media

-to as a matter of urgency engage on this matter, so that government can take steps in ensuring the various stakeholders arrive at better decision which represents the vision of the current government by; placing injunction on the current decision by the management of Goldfields Ghana Limited, ensuring Goldfields Ghana Limited maintains its owner mining status to retain workers, and even get incentives to expand operations and employ more to reflect what the NPP government stands for, which will even widen the tax benefits to government to support its generational policies such as; Free SHS, NHIS and One district One Factory among others.

When done, this will become one of the greatest achievements of the NPP and electoral fortunes of the party will be boosted.

When this occurs, the local economy which is already threatened as a result of the ban on small scale mining will not further dwindle.

When done, the royalties to the various traditional councils and stool Lands which are already inadequate, will be restored with hope with little or no chieftaincy disputes.

Government Save Gold Fields Tarkwa Mine Now!

–
By: Gomashie Edem Wisdom

The writer is a Ghanaian Trained Mining Engineer & Member, NPP Communications Team, Western Region.

The post Mining Engineer writes: Goldfields Ghana’s transition to ‘contract mining’ unfair appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.