Residents of Tebre-bay at Tarkwa in the Western Region have hit the streets to demand compensation from AngloGold Ashanti after the mining firm took over their lands two years ago.
According to the residents, AngloGold brought in military personnel to evict them from their legally acquired lands with the promise of compensating them.
However, two years on, the mining company, they say, is yet to fulfil its promise to them.
Some of the land-owners who pitched camp at the premises of AngloGold this morning told Joy News the protest was to demand fair treatment from the mining firm.
“Every time you come they tell you that they are signing the papers, this is the second time we are here and they still are saying that they haven’t gotten the papers signed on the value of the property to start the compensation. We are very aggrieved”, one land-owner said.
“We bought the land from the chiefs and later on AngloGold showed interest in the land. They went to the Minerals Commission, got the license and they were told to come and negotiate and compensate us. Now they are delaying us… it is about two years now. Every day they are just pushing us here and there”, another frustrated landlord lamented.
Meanwhile, the Senior Manager, Sustainability of AngloGold Ashanti in the Western region, Emmanuel Baidoo, says negotiations are still in progress to ensure a win-win situation.
“We have negotiated and we brought in a consultant to really look at what has happened there and produce a report for us internally for us to know the scale at which people have developed their lands in order to address the issues”, he said.
He noted that the company has consistently engaged with the aggrieved landowners on progress made so far in the compensation process.
Mr Baidoo indicated that management of the company has scheduled a meeting with leaders of the land owners adding that “we have not been irresponsible. We have been engaging them day in day out and we are all putting our heads together to find a solution that suits both parties”.
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