First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo
First Lady Rebbecca Akufo-Addo on Wednesday commissioned an upgraded health centre for residents in the Prestea Huni-Valley municipality of Western Region.
The 26-bed facility, which is well equipped with a child healthcare centre and two consulting rooms, is one of the eleven projects executed and being commissioned by Gold Fields Ghana Limited.
The Daily Statesman learnt that the health facility, which was built many years ago, could accommodate only six beds before the upgrade.
Mrs Akufo-Addo donated some medicals to the centre with a promise to soon deliver an ambulance too.
She had earlier commissioned a community library, also built by Gold Fields, at Abosso in the same municipality. Here too, the First Lady donated a set of books and computers to the newly constructed library, in line with her “Learning to Read, Reading to Learn” initiative.
Strategic partnership
Two other projects in the Tarkwa-Nsuem municipality, Nana Angu-Umat road and Akoon Park, had also been commissioned before the First Lady’s arrival. They were commissioned by Alfred Baku, executive vice-president and head of Gold Fields, West Africa.
At a durbar of chiefs and people in the two host communities, Mrs Akufo-Addo commended Gold Fields for contributing to improvements in the health and maternal care of the people.
She also commended the mining company for focusing more on shared value projects with high impact on the society.
The First Lady said the corporate social responsibility focus of Gold Fields aligns with The Rebecca Foundation.
She expressed a strong desire for partnership with the mining company in addressing key issues relating to health, education and economic empowerment of women in the Prestea Huni-Valley and Tarkwa Nsuem municipalities.
“I’m therefore looking forward to this strategic partnership after establishing similar ones with the private sector, government agencies and development partners to address these critical issues,” she said.
Corporate social responsibility
Mrs Akufo-Addo noted that corporate social responsibility is all about an organisation’s commitment to the larger community, and urged companies to care about the well-being of the communities within which they operate.
The First Lady added that corporate social responsibility has evolved beyond giving charity to include how organisations run their businesses with emphasis on sustainability.
She therefore urged management of Gold Fields to continue implementing strategies to reduce the impact of mining activities on host communities.
She added that protecting the environment is also a key component of corporate social responsibility.
Investments so far
Mr Alfred Baku disclosed that all the eleven projects scattered across the company’s two host communities were completed last year with over eight million cedis invested in them. The projects, he said, were executed through the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation.
He further disclosed that the Foundation, which focuses on health, education, water and sanitation, infrastructure and agriculture, has, since its establishment 15 years ago, invested over $66.5 million in these five key areas as well as livelihood enhancement programmes in host communities.
The MP for Prestea Huni-Valley and Minister for Tourism, Creative Arts and Culture, Barbara Oteng-Gyasi, commended Gold Fields for its infrastructural development in host communities.
