Leaders from five mining communities in the Obuasi Municipality, have attended a day's advocacy skills training workshop to facilitate positive interactions with mining companies operating in their respective communities.
It was organized by Centre for Social Impact Studies (CeSIS), for community leaders selected from Sanso, Anwiam, Anyinam, Kokoteasua and Bedieso.
They were also introduced to community mine-site Assessment Tools developed by Responsible Mining Foundation, an advocacy group based in Switzerland, for constructive engagement with mining companies.
The mine-site Assessment Tool was to be use as a technique to raise awareness on basic responsible mining, such as; how to start conversation on responsible mining, identifying gabs in responsible mining, as well as measures to improve responsible mining over time.
Among the challenges identified by the community leaders were air pollution, water pollution, lack of infrastructure, insecurity, takeover of farmlands, negative impact of mine-waste, poor road network, among others.
Mr. Richard Ellimah, Executive Director of CeSIS, said members in mining communities must move away from adversarial advocacy to positive engagement with the mining companies.
He said the training was expected to equip them with skills that would enable them to engage positively with AngloGold Ashanti, to address some of the challenges facing their communities.