–<\/strong>Is the Largest Taxpayer in Ghana for some years now in Ghana and by pouring into the country\u2019s coffers of GHc501 million as of 2016, a greater cushion to the country\u2019s affairs.<\/p>\n –<\/strong>Provides infrastructure as part of developing education, health, water and sanitation.<\/p>\n –<\/strong>Has an enviable record in sustainable community development.<\/p>\n 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;<\/p>\n –<\/strong>Taxes and Royalties to the state<\/p>\n –<\/strong>Survival of the Local Economy of Tarkwa and its environs<\/p>\n –<\/strong>Job Security of its employees and by extension a ripple effect on the defendants of the direct and indirect beneficiaries of the company.<\/p>\n –<\/strong>Development of the traditional structures of the various stools within the catchment of the company.<\/p>\n 1,700 Jobs to be cut by Gold Fields Ghana Limited<\/strong><\/p>\n 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;<\/p>\n –<\/strong>The company enjoyed an 11-year Development Agreement signed between Goldfields Ghana and Ghana Government in March 2016. 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The NPP agenda of Job Creation, Job Protection and Business Development<\/p>\n The ambitious 2016 manifesto of the New Patriotic Party which led to the unprecedented victory of Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo which led to;<\/p>\n –<\/strong>Scrapping of nuisance taxes 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.<\/p>\n Way Forward<\/p>\n I humbly through this medium petition the office of;<\/p>\n The President of the Republic of Ghana<\/p>\n The Vice President of the Republic of Ghana<\/p>\n The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources<\/p>\n The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations<\/p>\n The Parliament of Ghana<\/p>\n The Minerals Commission<\/p>\n The MP, Tarkwa Nsuaem, Vice Chair, Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy<\/p>\n The MP, Prestea-Huni Valley, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources<\/p>\n The Municipal Chief Executive, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality<\/p>\n The Presiding Member, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality<\/p>\n The Paramount Chief, Wassa Fiase Traditional Council<\/p>\n The Traditional Ruler, Apinto Stool Lands<\/p>\n Ghana Mine Workers Union<\/p>\n Gold Fields Ghana Limited<\/p>\n Gold Fields Workers Union<\/p>\n The Media<\/p>\n -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.<\/p>\n When done, this will become one of the greatest achievements of the NPP and electoral fortunes of the party will be boosted.<\/p>\n When this occurs, the local economy which is already threatened as a result of the ban on small scale mining will not further dwindle.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Government Save Gold Fields Tarkwa Mine Now!<\/p>\n – The writer is a Ghanaian Trained Mining Engineer & Member, NPP Communications Team, Western Region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a Ghanaian Mining Engineer, I am a key stakeholder of the mining industry of this country and have decided to add my voice to the trending issue of Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Gold Mine, making a transition from owner mining to contract mining, which will lead to over 1,700 Ghanaians losing their jobs, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":383738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[374],"tags":[3,15456,15457],"yoast_head":"\n
\n–<\/strong>The company\u2019s corporate tax rate was reduced from a fixed 35% to 32.5%.
\n–<\/strong>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.
\n–<\/strong>The company received concessions on import and other duties.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/GoldFields-workers-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n–<\/strong>Reduction of VAT
\n–<\/strong>Resuscitation of companies with stimulus packages
\n–<\/strong>Reduction of port tariffs
\n–<\/strong>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\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n
\nBy: Gomashie Edem Wisdom<\/p>\n