The local management committees (LMCs) of the Minerals Development Fund (MDF) in mining districts have been exhorted to prioritize investing mineral royalties allotted to them in long-term, income-generating ventures by Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, the MDF's Chairman of the Board.
According to him, smart MDF allocation investments in workable projects, particularly those in the agricultural and other sectors, would provide a steady stream of funding for additional development initiatives.
According to Mr. Sakyi-Addo, there is a window of opportunity for LMCs that are prepared for such investments because the MDF Board was successful in convincing the Ghana Chamber of Mines (GCM) to enter into off-taker agreements with mining districts so that mining companies would purchase whatever they produced.
The GCM, which is represented on the board, and the MDF Board have spoken, and the chamber is amenable to the concept that when we supply the money, part of it may be used in a workable project, like agriculture.
The chiefs will give the young men land so they may grow vegetables commercially and provide them to the mining firms in accordance with an off-taker contract.
"The businesses will buy all the vegetables, and the money they make may be invested in community facilities.
The money will benefit the communities more that way, he added.
He said that since LMC members served as district representatives, they could adopt the notion and research the best investment. They could provide what the mining firms need and would be profitable.
At the opening of a multipurpose community center in Ahansonyewodea, a village in the Obuasi East District of the Ashanti Region, Mr. Sakyi-Addo made the call.
The Obuasi LMC of the MDF built the project, which is intended to meet the social requirements of the community by serving as a venue for celebrations, community durbars, and parties.
Officials from the MDF, including the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Obuasi East, Faustina Amissah, the Deputy Administrator in charge of Operations, Emmanuel Quaye, the Deputy Administrator in charge of Finance and Administration, Seidu Abu-Jaja, and the chiefs and residents of the area were present at the ceremony.
judicious investment
More than GH700 million has been distributed to beneficiaries in mining villages all throughout the nation by the MDF Secretariat.
Although there is enough evidence that the fund has been used mostly for good in the different mining towns, Mr. Sakyi-Addo said that it might still be optimized through smart investment.
He said that the planned off-taker deal with the GCM was a good chance for the assembly to increase revenue and provide more facilities for the populace.
"We respect the LMCs' decisions on how they utilize the MDF allotted to them, but we can also propose ways in which it might be used effectively, and we believe the off-taker deal with the GCM is a good one.
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