Dr Yaw Asamoah, a lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba’s Geography Department, has called for the immediate resettlement of residents of the farming communities of Dampso and Yarogruma, which are close to the Newmont Ahafo South mine, in order to make schools easily and quickly accessible to the area’s school-age children.
In the Asutifi North District of the Ahafo Region, he claimed that the mine’s operations were having an impact on the education of children who were of school age in Newmont’s two “fence-line communities” and nearby settlements.
At a stakeholders gathering convened at Kenyasi Number Two to share the results of a study he performed in the two mining towns, Dr Asamoah made the call.
Dr Asamoah was hired to conduct research on “Mining-induced displacement’s impact on children education: children of school age in Newmont’s fence line communities in the Asutifi North District” by WACAM, a civil society and human rights advocacy organization.
Dr Asamoah noted that around 104 schoolchildren from Dampso, Yarogruma, and other towns had to travel 7.32 kilometres on foot to attend school in Kenyasi, a scenario that was having an impact on the area’s students’ enrollment, retention, and academic performance.
Although the mine had provided a bus, he claimed that the drivers were inconsistent in picking up and dropping off schoolchildren and that the issue was made worse worse during the wet seasons due to the poor condition of the local roads.
For the schoolchildren in the neighbourhood to remain motivated and interested in attending classes, Dr Asamoah claimed that they also needed educational supplies including textbooks, uniforms, school bags, and scholarships.
He added that the schoolgirls should be given sanitary pads so they can practice better personal hygiene and that they also require rechargeable bulbs so they can study at night.
In order for the kids to benefit from the school food program, Dr Asamoah also urged the Asutifi North District Assembly and the District Directorate of Education to work together.
The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) was required to conduct an impact assessment in the communities in response to the residents’ relocation, according to Mr Emmanuel Ato Aubyn, the Social Responsibility Manager at Newmont Ahafo South Mine, who said mine could take any action based on the EPA’s findings.
The directorate is working hard to guarantee that the schools benefit from the school food program, said Ms Noami Asantewaa, the director of education for the Asutifi North District.
The Asutifi North District Coordinating Director, Mr. Samuel Badu Baiden, encouraged the locals to exercise patience and expressed his hope that all interested parties in the area would work together to address the problems.
The Executive Associate Director of WACAM, Ms. Hannah Owusu-Koranteng, had earlier stated that her group began operations when local exploration began and claimed that mine operations had had a detrimental effect on the affected communities.