Article published in the Guardian Times - 10 April, 2008
THE Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu, has called on mining and exploration companies in the country to religiously abide by the guidelines set out by the Environmental Protection Agency to save the environment from being unduly exploited.
He reminded such companies that "the era that people did not take the environment seriously belongs to the pas and I remind you that the EPA has the legal mandate to prosecute maining and exploration companies who flout the law."
Otumfuo Osei Tutu, who made the call in a speach read on his behalf by the Kronkohene (Administrative Manager) at the Manhyia Palace, Nana Dr. Osei Tutu Amofa, at the inauguration of a specialized mining laboratory company in Kumasi, ALS Chemex Kumasi Laboratory, noted that the increasing importance of the mining sector as the leading foreign exchange earner would not reduce the government's commitment to ensuring compliance with the country's environmental policies.
ALS is a diversified international analytical laboratory group providing a broad range of services to four main market segments in the mining sector; mining and mineral exploration, environmental monitoring, equipment maintenance through used lubricant analysis, and commodity analysis and certification.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu told the mining companies that the government had laid down a strong foundation for the entry and operation of foreign and local companies and that had resulted in the influx of various multi-national institutions into the country.
Notable among them, he said, were banks and other financial institutions, and various mining and mining-related institutions such as ALS.
The Asantehene called on the mining companies to ensure a balance in the exploitation of the country's mineral resources for development with the sustainability and effective management and protection of the environment.
"The selection of Kumasi for the project is prudent, because the city has contact with geologists and metallurgists and occupies a central geographical position in the mining industry in Ghana and West Africa," he noted.
The Country Manager, Mr. Francis Donkor-Baah, in his welcoming address, said all ALS laboratories were operated by dedicated quality control chemists in each major laboratory.
He said as a professional services organization, ALS was committed to the ongoing professional development of all staff through peer interaction, as well as in-house and external training programmes.
"The Kumasi laboratory has been designed to do dedicated exploration sample, separate grade control sample preparation, double digest aqua regia for gold, AAS fininsh, fine assay gold AAS finish for both low level and ore grade samples," Mr. Donkor Baah said.
