Obuasi (Ash), Sept. 15, GNA-AngloGold Ashanti, Obuasi Mine has refurbished and revamped its Engineering Training School to provide hands-on practical training for the youth, especially indigenes of Obuasi.
The company is also partnering Mac Partners, a Ghanaian owned company to transform the school into a modern, sophisticated, and highly practical training centre.
Mr Emmanuel Baidoo, Senior Sustainability Manager who disclosed this, said the move formed part of the company’s resolve to contribute to building a resilient socio-economic and self-sustaining communities.
He was speaking at a development partnership symposium organised by the Mining firm to discuss partnership opportunities for implementing a 10-year Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) of the company at Obuasi.
“We can’t build the human capital without revisiting the Engineering Training school which was the hub of training in engineering related disciplines,” he pointed out
Driven by the need to address the skill deficiency level in the company’s engineering department, the centre was set up in 1987 to provide on-the-job training for the workers.
The Sustainability Manager revealed that as part of the SEDP, the company would train 1000 youth in mining related disciplines at the training school, adding that 100 of them strictly selected from the Obuasi Township would be trained this year.
“Whiles we train them, we will also equip them with entrepreneurial skills to enable them establish their own businesses,” he assured.
Issues of illegal mining has been a major headache of AngloGold Ashanti as the company has over the years struggled to deal with the activities of illegal miners in its Obuasi Mine.
Most of the youth who are engaged in illegal mining have attributed their involvement to their inability to access jobs at the mining company due to lack of skills in mining related areas.
This, the company believes, would be resolved when more of the youth from Obuasi are provided with the requisite skills to prepare them for the job market.
Mr Baidoo said the 10-year development plan was born out of lessons learnt from the erstwhile three-year Social Management Plan which expired in 2021.
He mentioned that the consultative processes to arrive at the SEDP was extensive spanning over a year and that the company would continue to engage all stakeholders to drum home the impact of the 10- year Socio-Economic Development Plan.
The company, he disclosed, was also facilitating the establishment of an Eco- Industrial Park in Obuasi, which would serve as a one stop shop for businesses in Obuasi.
He said currently the company had reclaimed the land for the park, planted trees and grass, and developed a land use plan for the project.
The Sustainability Manager added that, “The Eco-Industrial Park is about leveraging the strategic location and resource worth of Obuasi to invite investors to come and invest here. The industrial park will have banks, hotels, hostels, and light industries.”
He said the company would construct roads at the project site, fix power and internet access and support the Traditional Authorities to set up an all- purpose vehicle or business entity to market and manage the facility.
Mr George Alfred Koomson, the Obuasi Municipal Director of Education was upbeat about the impact of the SEDP on education in the Municipality.
He said the plethora of interventions lined up by AngloGold Ashanti would complement what the Government was already doing in the sector.
Anglogold Ashanti as part of the implementation of the SEDP seeks to organise a bi- annual instructional leadership training for Basic school teachers, distribute 500,000 copies of learning materials to basic schools,
Organise yearly mock exams for BECE candidates and establish a Robotic training centre at Obuasi Senior High Technical School.
Yussif Ibrahim
