The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has temporarily suspended the operations of Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited at Gbane in the Talensi district of the Upper East Region.
A letter dated April 24th 2017, signed by the Sector Minister, Mr.John Peter Amewu and copied to the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission in Accra stated that the sector minister "has received reports that your mining operations at Gbane in the Talensi district of the Upper East Region have allegedly caused the death of some people in that area. It has been reported that this is not the first time such an incident has occurred in your mine and this cannot be allowed to continue.”
According to the letter, the directive was also to enable "thorough investigations to be conducted into the matter and that "the suspension shall remain in force until investigations are completed and the appropriate decisions taken by me".
The company has asked 500 workers to go home to enable it to comply with the directive which it received in the form of a letter from the Ministry.
But some of the frustrated employees have described the decision by the sector minister as unfair.
Many of the workers who are from Tarkwa in the Western Region, Kumasi and Obuasi in the Ashanti Region said the directive would have an effect on their families and other dependants.
Company's response
At a press conference held at the premises of the company after the workers were told of the new directive, the Human Resource Manager of the company, Mr.Joseph Anokye said that it was not the operations of the company that resulted in the recent deaths of seven people in the area but it was due to the activities of the illegal miners.
He said many of the illegal miners usually stray into the mining concessions of the company without the knowledge of the management.