By Leke Adelere

The governor of Gombe state called for the people to remain peaceful and work with the government so that they can be relocated at a special inauguration ceremony for the payment of compensation programme.

An exploration conducted within the selected area of 64 hectares of land in Akko local government area of the state revealed an estimated 4.5 metric tons, enough coal to make further mining worth-while. According to the assessment conducted, it was revealed that the project will gulp about N5.5 billion (34.2m Euro), with the federal government granting approval for exploratory licence for 21 years.

The Special Adviser on Media/Publicity to the Governor of Gombe state, Mohammed Ahmed Pindiga, said the prospecting company; Ashaka Cement Plc, has paid compensation to all the villagers affected by the relocation exercise around the mining areas. The compensation by Ashaka Cement was in agreement with the state government, having completed the land assessment supervised by the ministry of land and survey in the state.

Maiganga, the community covered in its entire by exploration in Akko local government, has been relocated along with several other villages that are likely to be affected by the activities of the company. In the agreement signed with the state government, Ashaka Cement Plc is to undertake the resettlement exercise and provide infrastructure such as construction of new houses, 8 kilometres of feeder road, two bridges and 14 culverts.

Other amenities required to be built include a primary school, a mosque and church for the communities affected. Also, the prospecting company is to pay N42m as matching bonus while about 60% of its labour force will be from the catchment areas when operation commences. By October 2006, the Special Adviser said, initial opening up of exploration will begin while proper mining is expected to commence in October 2007 while the coal burning for power production will start in January 2008.

Governor Goje, while performing the commen-cement of the compensation exercise in Kumo, the headquarters of Akko local government where the coal was discovered, urged the host communities to maintain peace and cooperate with Ashaka Cement Plc. Goje also commended the company for promptly paying compensation to the affected villages and their readiness to commence operations and implored the federal govern-ment to encourage the mining of solid minerals like gypsum, limestone and others available in the state to provide more revenue as an alternative to petroleum.

At the presentation of cheques to the relocating communities Ashaka Cement revealed that the company recorded a short fall in its production for two weeks due to the shortage experienced in fuel supply. This according to the Adviser resulted in the loss of 1.8m Euros by the company.

With the discovery of coal in commercial quantity in the state, the mineral can serve as an alternative to power supply as it will boost the production capacity of the company without experiencing power failure any longer, the governor said. Ashaka Cement is the second largest producer of cement in West Africa after the West African Portland Cement.

It started operations in 1978 in collaboration with the Nigerian government and the UK cement producer, Blue Circle. In 1990, the federal government sold its shares in the company leaving Blue Circle as the largest single shareholder in, according to the Mbendi business directory.