No Secret Burials At Tarkwa Community Mines; Management Rubbishes Falsehoods

The management of Tarkwa Community Mining has vehemently denied a broadcast piece alleging that five of its underground workers died and were secretly buried in a shaft, without the involvement of the police and families of the deceased.

But, according to the company, no such abominable incident occurred anywhere under the watch of management, and, as such, challenged those spreading the falsehood to provide evidence or prepare to face legal action.

The company urged the public to disregard the said publication by an Accra-based Adom TV and treat it with the utmost contempt.

“It’s also not true that our winch machine cuts people’s head on their way to bringing ore from the shaft. We want to state categorically that, this said video has an iota of mischief and agenda setting attached to it and hereby notify the general public to disregard the video and treat it with the contempt that it deserves,” it reiterated.

In a statement, signed by Kwadwo Safo, the corporate media & public relations manager of the company,  on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, the company also asked the television station and its presenter, by name Daakyehene, to come out with evidence of his false report, if any.

“We are therefore challenging Daakyehene to come out with his supposed video evidence of secretly buried corpses as claimed in the video and alerting all media outlets who have already aired false information about our Mine site to retract and render an unqualified apology within the next 72 hours or face the full rigorous of the law,” it said.

In an editorial by Adom TV’s presenter Daakyhene, The Anchor gathered, the station claimed, among others, that some five individuals unfortunately lost their lives while underground, mining for Tarkwa Community Mining.

According to the ‘S3de3 ete3 nie editorial,’ out of the five persons, only one was brought out of the shaft to the family for burial, after the company had allegedly bribed the said unnamed family to keep the news outside the public eye.

The editorial piece also alleged that the four others were secretly buried in the shaft, apparently because they were not indigenes of Tarkwa.

But reacting to the said report, Tarkwa Community Mining, in the 11-points statement, copied The Anchor, insisted that all the allegations are entirely untrue, and challenged even the footage in the editorial, saying, the said video of the mining site is not their company’s concession and is unknown to them.

It said, “It’s also not true that our winch machine cuts people’s head on their way to bringing ore from the shaft. We want to state categorically that, this said video has an iota of mischief and agenda setting attached to it and hereby notify the general public to disregard the video and treat it with the contempt that it deserves, if not why will the name TASK MINING be aligned to this footage when you are talking about Tarkwa Community Mining, why will the name of the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources be alleged to this incident, there are other several commissioned community mining sites but why always the bad publications about Tarkwa Community Mining in the public domain of which this is no exception.”

The statement indicates that, “the company rides on good moral, ethical, humanitarian and professional mining codes enshrined in the Mineral and Mining Act and on no certain terms will leadership treat others unfairly just because the fellow is not an indigene of Tarkwa.”

While admitting that there had been some fatalities at their site, the company said it was different and not up to the number the editorial had claimed, adding that some of the cases were on health grounds and so they were treated at the hospital, but they died.

According to management, every accident that occurred under their watch were made known to the police and other stakeholders and properly recorded and kept in their archives.

It explained that, “Some of these cases were on health grounds and were duly sent to hospital but unfortunately died. All accidents at our mine site are reported to the police and other stakeholders with proper records kept in our archives. The company is undergoing several tutelages with the Minerals Commission to ensure that, health and safety practices in the mine are of the best.”

The statement also touched on allegations that some money was paid to a deceased family as a compensation for their loved one, having buried him secretly. The company, which has over 4,000 staff across the country, wondered why it will be accused of such a crime when no such thing occurred.

It further said, “On no human grounds will a company with four thousand nine hundred and sixty-seven (4,967) employees from across the length and breadth of this country bury secretly a dead body in the shaft underground and I think no company does that. Besides, the shaft is not a cemetery to keep dead bodies. If such were true, like no single individual could have stayed in the shaft to work in the stinking environment.”

It added, “All workers are legally registered with the company and records leading to the reach of their respective relatives in times of crises are duly followed. There was one incident that even the company had to transport a body from Tarkwa to Wa upon a mutual term with the family.”

The two-paragraph statement also debunked claims that proceeds from the mining company are shared among politicians – a Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources George Mireku Duker, the New Patriotic Party Regional chairman and the Regional Minister

“We can state on authority that, ever since the official commissioning of this mine on behalf of government by these personalities, they have never set foot to the mine neither have they requested for proceeds from this mine.

That Zack, Adeaba and Kofi Zong as mentioned in the video are not the custodians of the mine. It’s a government-commissioned institution and no individuals can own it,” it said.

Meanwhile, the management has asked other media outlets that have already published the false reports to do the needful by retracting and rendering an unqualified apology to A’koon within three days or face their wrath in court.

Source: Anchorghana.com