Toni Aubynn inaugurates committee for mining training fund

A seven-member Mining Sector Training Fund Management Committee has been inaugurated by the Minerals Commission to ensure that the country deepens its local content drive in the minerals and mining sector.

 

The membership of the committee is drawn from the Minerals Commission and the Ghana Chamber of Mines.

The committee members as constituted are made up of the following persons: MrAmponsahTawiah - Deputy Chief Inspector of Mines, Policy–Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Afreh  -  Manager, Monitoring & Evaluation-Member, Collins Anim-Sackey - Deputy Manager, Monitoring  & Evaluation-Member/Secretary.

The members also include Francis Eduku -Vice President & Head of HR, Gold Fields- Member, Ms Jane-Frances Nyuagl -  Principal Finance Officer- Member, S. H. Ampofo-Kwabiah  -  Principal Inspector of Mines-Member and Ms.AkuaSarpong-Menu -  Legal Officer- Member.

Officially inaugurating the commission in Accra, Chief Executive of the Minerals Commission, Dr Toni Aubynn explained that the Committee that shall be responsible for submitting proposals to the CEO of the Minerals Commission for the utilisation of funds paid into the Funds account. 

This, he said is to ensure that the provisions achieve the desired intent of benefiting Ghanaian workers and local producers of the mining industry.

“It is my fervent hope that the Committee will discharge its duties to ensure that Ghana deepens the local content drive in the minerals and mining sector,” DrAubynn said.

The establishment of the committee, he explained is in line with the mining sector localization programme under the Minerals and Mining (General) Regulations, 2012 (L.I.2173), which provision is made for the recruitment of expatriates, training of Ghanaians and preference for local products for which companies are required to comply with their respective localization  programme approved by the Commission.

He said: “under Regulation 1 (15) of L.I. 2173, any person who fails to comply with the localisationprogramme is required to pay to the Commission a penalty.

“Under this, the Commission is required under Regulation 1 (16) of L.I. 2173 to establish an account into which the penalty shall be paid for the training of Ghanaians for employment in the mining sector.

“This is in accordance with Regulation 1 (16) of L.I. 2173, which the Commission has since December 2016 put in place, a committee to manage the Mining Sector Training Fund.”