African Minerals Compensates Land Owners. Author: SEMSierra...

African Minerals Compensates Land Owners.

Author: SEM

Sierra Leone News - 9/6/10

One of the leading iron ore mining companies in the country, African Minerals Limited, has made over Le14 million in disbursement payments to farmers and land owners in the Kafe Simiria chiefdom, in the Tonkolili district. The payment was part of the land compensation package of the mining company given to farmers and land owners in the affected areas of the company operations.

During the disbursement, AML's corporate officer Mustapha Kamara said the company is currently constructing the railway road which according to him will be used to transport the ore by train from the mining site to Pepel for shipment.

The corporate officer said the company is aware of the fact that the construction process will destroy farms, sacred bushes, land and commercial trees; the company therefore thought it fit to pay compensation packages to the affected farmers in the areas under their operations including Kafe, Kalasogoia and Sambaya Bendugu chiefdoms as they believe in working with locals.

It could be recalled that a group of youths in the three operational chiefdoms of African Minerals sometime back wrote a letter of protest against the company for an alleged neglect on their part. The letter went on that, the company promised them of 75 of their unskilled Labour working force which according to them was not fulfilled. The timely intervention of the Tonkolili district security committee, and personnel from the company settled the mater amicably.

According to one land owner, the speedy payment was as a result of the protest letter they wrote earlier and further that at present they are enjoying a good relationship with AML noting that, their children are going to benefit a lot from the company.

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