Newmont’s Operations Adversely Impacting School Children In Asutifi North--Study

Children of school-going age in communities in the Asutifi North District (AND) in the Ahafo Region are bearing the brunt of Newmont Ahafo Mine operations, a study has found out.

  
These communities, locally referred to as Damso, which are fenceline communities (because of their location around the dam area of Newmont) include Kwakyekrom, Manushed, Yawusukrom, Dokyikrom, Kodiwohia, and Yarogrumah.

The rest are Amankonakrom, Oseiwusukrom, Tailorkrom, Ananekrom, Nsonyameye No. 1, Nsonyameye No. 2 and Akorekrom.  

These fenceline communities are the “left-behind” communities and/or households who are located outside of Newmont’s catchment areas, and thus suffer the direct impact of the operations of the company.

It was along this line that the above communities are calling for their immediate resettlement. 

This measure, they contended, would allow and help their children to have quality access to education.

The Wacam Mining-Induced Displacement’s Impacts On Children of School-Going Age (CSGA) research, led by a Lecturer at the University Education of Winneba (UEW), Dr Yaw Asamoah, found, among other effects, the destruction of public schools, low enrollment, poor academic performance, feeding challenge among others in the communities.

Presenting the outcome of his study at a public forum in Kenyasi, Ahafo Region, on Friday, February 10, 2023, Dr Asamoah said, for instance, 4 public schools—Local Authority (L/A) Primary School (established in 1991), with 58 pupils at Kwakyekrom, and three (3) other L/A schools – a kindergarten, a primary school (established in 1984), and a junior secondary school (established in 2002) at Kodiwohia, with an enrollment of 190 pupils—were destroyed as a result of Newmont’s operations.  

Participants at the forum included educationists, environmentalists, parents from the fenceline communities, representatives of churches and Newmont officials.

The study attributed the above problems mainly to the non-formalisation of a busing system for school children by Newmont. 

However, it emerged at the forum that the shuttling system provided by Newmont has now been formalised and awarded to a contractor. 

According to the study, though a new school, Kodiwohia D/A Basic School, has been built at Kenyasi No 2, to provide formal education to children in the resettled households, those in the fenceline communities were still having challenges accessing education.

For school children in the fenceline communities, the study found that some of them were compelled to cover long distances to either go to school at the resettled school at Kenyasi No. 2, or access it at other neighbouring communities, particularly Tutuka (Dokyikrom) and Yawusukrom which spans a minimum of 2km, and a maximum of 7km.

Again it found that the irregular failure to pick up the pupils may occur when it rains which makes the road unmotorable or when the car breaks down.

The study indicated that parents of school-going children feared their wards were at risk at being raped, especially the girls, kidnapped and or knocked down by a car while trekking to school or from school to their homes in the absence of the bus.   

“Emphatically, 96% of the respondents perceived that their children were at risk of accessing schools in other communities for various reasons. Respondents were concerned about risks of road crashes (94%) kidnapping (91%), rape (81%), bad peer influence (74%), storm (94%), and flooding (92%). Expression of these forms of fear or risks is understandable in the sense that, in this partly deciduous forest and transitional belt region, rainfall was common, and it becomes unsafe to ply the untarred (feeder) roads especially during and after stormy rains. Again, given that the fenceline communities from where these children come are vegetated, the possibility of kidnapping and rape was higher since kids were rarely accompanied to and from school by any adult,” the study pointed out.
  
On the way forward, the study recommended that the Asutifi North District Assembly and the District Education Directorate to collaborate to seek assistance from the School Feeding Programme Secretariat to provide at least one hot and nutritious meal to pupils at school. 

“In the same vein, Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility, should provide meals to pupils while at school.  
Furthermore, it stressed the need for an adult from within the fenceline communities to be engaged to be with the pupils in the buses to monitor or them, so the driver is not distracted while driving.

“Scholarship and educational materials such as books, school uniforms, school bags, as well as rechargeable lamps, footwear, and an adequate number of sanitary pads for girls need to be provided by the Newmont Ghana Gold Limited,” the study suggested.
 
This, the study explained, will compensate for the depravity the communities have been pushed to as a result of the mining company’s operations.
 
“As a long-term measure, Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, together with the District Assembly and traditional authorities in the district need to expedite efforts to resettle the ‘left-behind’ households in the fenceline communities, to make schools easily accessible to school-going children in these households.” 

The Social Responsibility Manager of Ahafo Mine, Emmanuel Ato Obeng, who was present, indicated that it would have been fair if the researcher had contacted Newmont for their response.

But in a response Dr. Asamoah said he made some efforts in that regard but yielded no dividends.

Earlier, in a brief remark, the Associate Executive Director of Wacam, Mrs Hannah Owusu-Koranteng, said Wacan, for the past 20 years, has been engaging researchers in its activities.

This, she said, has given credibility to the organisation, assuring that Wacam will continue to offer support to especially communities affected by mining.

For her part, the Education Director of Asutifi North District, Mrs Naomi Asantewaa, expressed excitement about the event.

“I am happy at the research work particularly when it concerns education,” she said.

She noted that though mining brings about jobs and development, it was sad that some school children have abandoned school for illegal mining (known as galamsey), adding that “this situation is quite worrying.”
The Coordinating Director of AND, Samuel Badu Baiden, admonished all the stakeholders to collaborate and address issues associated with education in the district.