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“Companies should not within the milieu of complex accounting procedures take advantage of their international operations to add overhead costs”, he said. The minister was speaking at the seventh West African Mining and Power Conference in Accra yesterday. It is on the theme, “Promoting sustainable development through mineral resource development”. The conference is to serve as a platform for discussing appropriate strategies for addressing the implementation challenges of policies and regulations guiding the mining sector. Alhaji Collins Dauda’s calls comes in the wake of accusations leveled by some local pressure groups against some mining companies for declaring low revenues as part of a grand design to pay low taxes on their operations to the government. The current laws guiding the operations of mines in the country require mining companies to pay not less than three percent of their declared revenues to government. In spite of the some of the notable destructive activities of mining, the sector contributes only seven percent of Ghana’s corporate tax earnings, 12 percent of government revenue and 5.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). About 24,000 people are employed by the large –scale mining sector, comprising eight companies producing gold and one each producing bauxite and manganese. Alhaji Dauda also prodded the companies to co-operate with the government to improve local content in their operations by adhering to succession plans, procuring local goods and services and consciously training locals to work in the mining and allied industries. He called on traditional authorities to promote dialogue and consensus building with the mining firms with the objective of maximizing the economic and social benefits from the mines. He urged civil society organizations not to serve only as watch dogs in mining communities in building their capacity to ensure effective engagement with operators, suggest alternative solutions to ineffective strategies being implemented and support the government and mine operators to implement strategies aimed at improving the lot of host communities. “Mineral deposits are finite. Therefore, the economy of any community which depends substantially on mining could in time grind to a halt if the use and management of its share of revenue and other benefits are not planned, invested and directed properly. Economic diversification to ensure the creation of mining communities which thrive after mine closure is one of the ways forward.” Alhaji Dauda added. A renowned Ghanaian economist, Mr. Kwame Pianim, said for mining to contribute significantly to the national economy, some measures needed to be put in place. First, there was the need for a stable macroeconomic environment and low pricing of some of the factors of production, namely land and labour, he said. Second, there was the need to protect the skilled labour in the sector from drifting into the oil sector, he added, noting that the requisite infrastructure in the form of good roads, railways lines and ports also needed to be put in place. Mr. Pianim also urged local mining companies to partner local entrepreneurs to provide some of the services the mining companies required. |
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