By Septimus Senessie in Kono
Chairman of the community and teacher’s’ association of the United God’s Is Our Light Primary School at Saque Town in Koidu and church overseer has said that they will be “defiant” to any relocation plan by the OCTEA mining company if their demands are not met.
The 75-year old church administrator, Sahr Bayoh, told Politico that the six classroom block constructed by the company for them was about three miles off their original compound and not conducive for school kids.
He said a big river was running about fifty metres away from the school and was serving as a boundary between the school and the company. Bayoh said that as a mission they had made clear their conditions to OCTEA mining company that they would only relocate to the place if the company constructed a fence around the school to prevent the children from the possibility of drowning in the nearby river.
He added that the company should also provide the school with its extra three hectares of land which it had, adding that the new school had no playground and land for agricultural activities.
The church overseer also accused OCTEA of opening “old deep wounds” between their own break-away church and the old United God Is Our Light Church.
He said while there existed a separation between the two churches on doctrinal grounds, OCTEA decided to construct one building for the two churches instead of two separate buildings. He insisted that they would not relocate to the new site until OCTEA mining company addressed all their concerns.
The church overseer and CTA chairman therefore called on the concerned authorities to address the matter to avoid a repeat of the last December incident which left two people dead with scores injured.
Speaking to Politico on the phone, President of OCTEA mining company, Ibrahim Sorie Kamara, said that they would look into the matter and if the complaints of the aggrieved people were legitimate, they would address them.
He said the company had established structures like the community development office and the Village Resettlement Committee to address those unforeseen circumstances. He said no business institution would welcome conflict within the community in which it operated, adding that “any breach of peace in our operational areas will seriously affect our operations.”
He therefore called on those communities affected by their operations to remain peaceful and exercise patience while they looked into their concerns.
© Politico 14/11/13
