The GACH Mining outfit has fixed and continues to find solutions to Tujereng’s developmental challenges and according to the chairman of Tujereng development committee, GACH’s operations in Tujereng has opened up a floodgate of opportunities for the coastal community.
The steadfast commitment of GACH Mining to its corporate, social responsibility in Tujereng has resulted in various income generation schemes and implementation of various self-help initiatives geared towards improving health and learning outcomes in the village as well as the economic health and social welfare of the residents.
GACH Mining had its fair share of accusations as regards the destruction of the coastline in Tujereng. But Tujereng VDC chair clarified that other mining companies had their operations in Tujereng well before the arrival of GACH Mining and therefore, unfortunate to see some people lay the blame for the environmental carnage in Tujereng at the feet of GACH.
“There existed companies in Tujereng since the 50s. The DML, Carnegie, Ginkon and Unity Mining were mining in Tujereng before the arrival of GACH. And when you go to Tujereng, there were areas that were heavily mined but were never rehabilitated. In my opinion, those companies were not interested in the implementation of the agreement they had with geology, NEA or whoever. They just mined and went,” Mr. Cherno Njie explained in a recent interview with Star Tv’s Yusupha Darboe.
The Tujereng VDC chair cast his mind back to the period when he assumed the role of chairman.
“When I assumed the role of chairman [of Tujereng VDC], Ginkon was the company mining in Tujereng. During my first site visit [to Ginkon mining site] in my first month in office, I was very saddened. I convened an executive meeting that very month and wrote a letter to the then minister of energy Abdou Jobe and copied the letter to the secretary-general, Office of the President. Fortunately, they responded and informed us about the day they planned to embark on a site visit. When they came, that was the very day Ginkon was stopped,” Njie explained.
He recalled that GACH wrote a letter to the VDC a month and a half following Ginkon’s exit, expressing its interest in carrying out mining operations in Tujereng. “We had a discussion with them, which took about three months.The composition of my VDC is one of its kind in the entire Kombo because my vice is the chief executive of Mbolo, that’s an international organization, our secretary is a lawyer by profession, our auditor Amadou Jallow is an ACCA holder working at Eco Bank, Mr. Jabang is a project coordinator at the Ministry of Education and Lamin Bojang, who works at the MRC, is the PRO. We also have in the VDC an educationist and an official of the Department of Water Resources. This is why when I see associations that are supposed to nurture peace, spreading misleading information, I also decided to come and rectify. GACH doesn’t pay us anything, except through the agreement we signed,” he added.
According to Mr Njie, none of the companies that mined in Tujereng since the GML time in the 50s have returned to restore their mining site, except GACH.
“It’s only GACH,” he added.
Mr. Njie explained that GACH made history in Tujereng by enabling the village to roll out a communal macro-finance scheme for the first time.
“I’m here to be corrected…Since the arrival of GACH, for the first time in history, our VDC organized a macro-finance scheme for Tujereng women through which, we disbursed half-a-million dalasi interest-free loans,” he further explained, adding that the ball was set rolling from the proceeds of GACH’s mining operations in Tujereng. “The Alkalo instructed us to disburse the half-a-million dalasi to encourage petty-trading in our village.Over 133 women benefitted from that and it’s an ongoing scheme,” he stated.
The Tujereng VDC chair also disclosed that GACH Mining erected a shed at Tujereng health centre at over half-a-million dalasi.
“The VDC built an air-conditioned laboratory at the Tujereng health center, which was the first of its kind in the whole of Kombo South, all from the proceeds of GACH. If you go to our mosque, all the sliding windows and doors were donated to us by GACH and presently, we are implementing a multi-million dalasi project just on the highway to Sanyang. It’s a storey-building and stores for revenue generation and all that came from GACH. Every two classrooms at the Arabic school is being sponsored by GACH through a project. Every six months, they pay us the agreed royalty and they don’t owe us any arrears,” he acknowledged.
