Lawmakers, Residents Meet Over Da Tong Gold Mining Operations

By Patrick Stephen Tokpah

Bong County Electoral District 4 Representative Robert Flomo Womba and Electoral District 3 Representative J. Marvin Cole have concluded a day-long consultative meeting with aggrieved residents of the Behquelleh Clan in the County.
The meeting followed when residents of Behqulleh Clan in Jorquelleh District 3, peacefully protested against Da Tang Gold Mining Company in Zota District.
The locals accused the company of neglecting their rights despite using their road for seven years without providing any minimal benefit.
According to the aggrieved residents, since the company began operations in Zota in 2018, it has continuously excluded them from the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for affected communities, despite using a major route in their clan for transportation.
As part of the protest, residents set up a roadblock in Kpayah Town, preventing all vehicles belonging to the company from using the Kpayah-Jenepleta route until an MoU is signed between them and the mining company.
One of their major concerns is the rehabilitation of their road. The aggrieved locals have criticized the company for merely using a front-end loader to fill potholes instead of properly reconstructing the road.
However, Representative Robert Flomo Womba of District 4, where the company operates, urged the residents to remain peaceful.
He explained that the Chinese operators of the company were reluctant to meet with the people due to security concerns.
Rep. Womba informed the residents that he had planned to work with Rep. Josiah Marvin Cole to organize a meeting with the company’s representatives in Gbarnga, but Rep. Cole insisted that the Chinese operators move to meet directly with the affected people for discussions.

The Bong County District 3 Representative told the media after the meeting that he expressed his support for the protesters.
He revealed further that on three different occasions, he had invited the company’s operators for dialogue with the affected people, but they repeatedly refused to attend for reasons best known to them.
Rep. Cole stated that since the people have resolved to block the company’s vehicles from using their road, he fully supported their action.
Meanwhile, during the town hall discussions in Kpayah Town, authorities of the company were invited but failed to attend. But the locals are demanding that the company engage with them directly to sign an MoU that would serve as a working document for all parties involved. The meeting was held recently in Kpayah, one of the affected communities in Behquelleh Clan.
Da Tang Gold Mining Company is a licensed Class B gold mining company that began operations in Gbakonah, Zota District, in 2018.