Gold Fields hands over US$1.53m legacy projects to host communities

Four communities in the Prestea-Huni-Valley Municipality, impacted by the operations of Gold Fields Ghana Limited, have benefited from US$1.53 million healthcare and other social infrastructure legacy projects through the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation.

The projects include a renovated maternity block with modern delivery facilities and other amenities at the Abosso Health Centre, accommodation for doctors and nurses at Huni Valley, a community centre at Bompieso, and 1.7 kilometres of tarred town roads in Damang.

Speaking at the commissioning of the projects, the Executive Vice President and Head of Gold Fields West Africa, Joshua Mortoti, said the projects are part of the company’s legacy projects for the mining-affected communities, realized from a conducted study.

“To ensure we extend our support further, elevating it to another level, in 2023, Gold Fields commissioned a baseline needs assessment of the Tarkwa Nsuaem and Prestea Huni Valley Municipalities. The objective of the study was to identify a legacy project that would tie into our purpose of creating enduring value beyond mining. The study recommended expanded access to quality healthcare. We call this our Legacy Programme… Today, we are excited to hand over four community projects. The investment made by the Foundation for these projects is US$1.53 million,” he said.

Mr. Joshua Mortoti, who mentioned that the investment ramps up Gold Fields Foundation’s infrastructure investment alone to 69% of its total social investment spending, called for a better maintenance culture as some of its projects are being mismanaged.

“Maintenance of infrastructural projects, which have been handed over, has been a major challenge for the Foundation. For example, a library funded by the Foundation and presented to the Abosso community about three years ago is in a total state of disrepair. I am told that funerals are organized right outside the library grounds, and the library’s washrooms and other facilities are constantly used. Besides this, the area provided for reading in the library is used to host people attending funerals. We are concerned because the facility needs to be used appropriately and maintained properly for sustainable impact. This is just one example of many. I need to point out that a breakdown of the Foundation’s spend so far shows that US$68.8 million has gone into infrastructure. This is about 69% of the total spend. Going forward, and to help address this issue of poor maintenance of facilities, the Foundation has taken a bold step to set up project operations and management teams to operate and manage all projects it invests in,” he added.

The Executive Secretary of Gold Fields Ghana Foundation, Abdel Razak Yakubu, on his part, recounted how the Gold Fields Foundation is making impactful contributions in other sectors of the lives of its inhabitants.

“The Foundation completed 88% of projects approved by its trustees as against 56% in previous years. In addition to the projects being handed over today, Gold Fields, through its Foundation, is still implementing projects and programs in health, education, training, water and sanitation, agriculture, and infrastructure. A few years ago, we partnered with Huni Valley Senior High School to train 10 of the students for the National Science and Maths Quiz. The target was to reach at least the quarter-final stage of the competition. Unfortunately, this target was missed. Interestingly, however, 7 students out of this group of 10 graduated recently and produced the best WASSCE results in the history of the school,” he said.

By way of proof, Abdel Razak Yakubu congratulated and highlighted the achievements of the 7 students the Foundation supported in their WASSCE preparation.

“Helen Daniels had A1 in all 8 subjects, Daniel Pascal had A1 in all 8 subjects, Abubakari Idrissu Napari had A1 in 7 subjects and B2 in 1 subject, Peter Nelson had A1 in 7 subjects and B2 in 1 subject, Henry Arkoh had A1 in 6 subjects and B2 in 2 subjects, Gabriel Mensah had A1 in 6 subjects, B2 in 1 subject, and B3 in another, and finally, Benjamin Eshun had A1 in 5 subjects, B2 in 2 subjects, and B3 in one subject,” he noted.

The Head of Maternity at the Abosso Health Centre, Philomena Ayiah, and the Deputy Director of Ghana Health Service, Dr. Anthony Adolfo, told Citi News that the modern delivery beds and other logistics will help address the delivery challenges facing the facility as well as general healthcare services.

While thanking Gold Fields Foundation for its community investment, the Chief of Abosso, Nana Kojo Bosco Quinoo, said the time has come for the government to allow mining companies like Gold Fields Ghana Limited to do more for mining communities by providing tax rebates.

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