The Ghana Manganese Company Limited has welcomed the government’s decision to allow the company to resume operations.
The company’s Finance Manager, Emmanuel Appiah Kubi told Citi News that the new directive from the government is in the best interest of the country.
“The Minister asking the mine to close in the first place wasn’t the best because at the end of the day, it is about past figures so operating the mine wasn’t going to affect any further investigation they wanted to do. I believe that we saw that the argument we put up was reasonable so he asked us to resume work while they look at the matter. I think it is in the best interest of Ghana for us to continue to work to fulfil our tax obligations and also honour our social responsibility.
The Minister for Lands and National Resources, Kwaku Asomah Cheremeh, last week ordered the company to shut down over alleged non-payment of taxes and price manipulations between 2010 to 2017.
But after a meeting between interested parties in the matter on Friday, the government decided to allow the company to operate again.
The Minister of Environment, Science and technology and officials from the Minerals Commission were also present at the meeting.
“In light of the good faith shown by the company to work with Government towards amicable resolution, including the joint manning of the weighbridge located at the mine and tonnages loaded onto ships to guarantee accurate computation of revenue, I have asked the company to resume its operations,” the Minister said in a statement.
A statement from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources on the meeting said.
It added that, “efforts are being made to protect the interest of all employees, local contractors and the state.”
Before this meeting the workers who had been asked to go home until further notice threatened to embark on a demonstration if the government did not rescind its decision.
About 2,000 employees were affected by the shutdown.