Osabarima Kofi Boateng III, Akwatiahene has appealed to Government to prioritise the divestiture of Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Limited (GCD) at Akwatia.
He said efforts should be made to find a suitable investor to take over and re-activate the company put on divestiture and eventually closed down in September 2007.
Osabarima Boateng made the appeal when speaking to newsmen at his palace at Akwatia.
He explained that with the closure, the workers faced a bleak future and the only solution to alleviate their plight was to re-activate the company, while in addition contribute to national economy through job creation.
Osabarima Boateng noted that economic and social life at Akwatia had significantly declined after the closure of the mine that had the potential in its large concession of diamond and gold.
He appealed to Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, to resist the temptation of acceding to requests from political activists to allocate portions of the concessions to them.
It is the single largest diamond mine in West Africa, but had been under-capitalised and left with obsolete plant and machinery.
As a result, production dwindled until its operations grounded to a halt in September 2007 and about 500 of its 800 work force sent home.
The management owed workers unpaid salaries and wages for eight months and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Government had to release over GH¢1,280,000 to settle the bill.

The company began as British-owned mines in 1924 under the name Consolidated African Selection Trust (CAST), but during the National Redemption Council (NRC I) regime in 1972 took over 51 per cent and changed the name to Ghana Consolidated Diamonds.
It was jointly owned until 1982 when the British sold their interest and left, making GCD a wholly state-owned.
The company had been on divestiture for over 20 years and had suffered a divestiture failure one after another.