Civil society organizations working with communities in the affected area have criticized the mine's environmental performance and the company's relations with surrounding villages. They have demanded redress for grievances, including issues around water pollution, access to land, compensation for lost property and livelihoods, and infrastructure backlogs. The communities claim that GAG's mining activities have polluted their drinking streams and that the company has failed to provide adequate alternative sources of water. In addition, local organizations claim that GAG supported the forced removal of a community from land the company wished to mine, and compensation provided to those whose houses and farms were lost proved inadequate.
In response to these concerns, project sponsors, the IFC and other financiers, as well as local communities, participated in a joint process to draft a community action plan aimed at addressing outstanding complaints. Although local organizations note that this process cannot resolve the more permanent and systemic issues of loss of livelihood and land degradation, the objective of the plan is to address some of the most pressing problems related to GAG's mining operations. The IFC visited the Tarkwa mining district and GAG site in August 2002 and January 2003. Local groups are monitoring the implementation of the action plan and consultants have been hired to assist in the drafting of a community development plan.
Bogoso Gold Mine
Community organizations in the Tarkwa region are also seeking the resolution of problems related to the Bogoso gold mine. Although IFC has divested from Bogoso, local organizations claim that IFC remains responsible to communities affected by the gold mine, and should be helping to address their outstanding complaints. IFC has denied its liability for the community's problems, arguing that since it is no longer an investor in the mine, it has no leverage to pressure the Bogoso Gold Limited to resolve environmental, social, and economic problems related to its mining activities. IFC referred local organizations seeking information about the mine's environmental and social impacts to the project sponsors. However, Bogoso Gold Limited has not responded to local community requests for information about the results of an environmental and social audit of its mining activities.