Mine workers at Future Global Resources (FGR) in Bogoso Prestea, a mining company located in the Western Region, have issued a two-month ultimatum to the government, urging it to take control of the mines and assign the concession to another investor.
They argue that the mine suffers from a lack of investment, poor safety conditions, and non-payment of workers’ SSNIT contributions, which has resulted from mismanagement by FGR.
In 2020, FGR took over the concession of the mines situated in the Prestea-Huni-Valley Municipality of the Western Region from Golden Star Resources.
Despite a three-year transition, approximately 500 mine workers and neighboring communities assert that the mine’s performance has fallen short of their expectations.
The mines have experienced at least two major labor disputes, prompting the area’s paramount chiefs to petition the government, citing FGR’s inadequate management of the mine.
FGR’s worker leadership, recently ending a six-day sit-down strike due to non-payment of their statutory contributions and the absence of safety equipment, highlights a lack of investment and mismanagement as the root issues.
Supporting this sentiment, a fuel supplier to FGR reveals that the company owes suppliers for approximately a year. The Gyaasehene of Prestea Himan, Nana Mutty Ankamah, speaking on behalf of six paramount chiefs who have petitioned the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, alleges FGR’s lack of transparency in its operations and failure to provide the communities with the Corporate Social Investments enjoyed by other mines.
Wisdom Cudjoe, the Member of Parliament for Prestea-Huni-Valley, met with the workers after receiving a copy of the petition from the chiefs and workers, and he expressed his intent to write to the Speaker regarding the mines’ indebtedness.