Gold Fields Ghana Limited has presented a Case Tractor to the Takoradi Air Force Base to ensure flight safety at the facility.
The Case Tractor, valued at US$28,000, is to assist in keeping edges of the runway clear of overgrown bushes and other potential impediments which could hinder flight operations.
At a brief handing-over of the tractor at Takoradi Air force Base, Elliot Twum, Relieving General Manager at Gold Fields Tarkwa Mine said: “At Gold Fields, safety is our number-one value; and if we cannot mine safely, we will not mine. We extend this to the communities we operate in, and ensure all our stakeholders understand and benefit from the commitment we make to this number-one value.
“That is why we believe providing this important equipment to Takoradi Airport, and indeed the Air Force Base, will go a long way to ensure flight safety for all users of this facility. Almost every day our employees, visitors and other key stakeholders use this airport as they travel to our mine sites at Tarkwa and Damang,” he noted.
Mr. Twum enlightened officers at the Air Force Base about some of his outfit’s operations, saying: “Since 2004, the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation has invested over US$96m in socio-economic development programmes and projects, focusing on education, health, water and sanitation, agriculture and infrastructure in our host communities”.
He stated that the Foundation is also focused on shared value projects which have measurable and sustainable impact on stakeholders in general.
“Responsibility and collaborative delivery are also key values for Gold Fields, and we believe we are living these values by providing this much-needed tractor to help improve operations at this base,” he said.
Air Commodore Godfried Sackey Parker, Base Commander at Takoradi Airforce Base said: “This case structure generously provided by Gold Fields Ghana will assist us in maintaining the excellence of our runway through effective weight control; thereby enhancing safety of the Air Force Base runway which services both military and civil operations”.
According to him, the issue of maintaining safety around the base is a priority – especially on the runway. “You all know how important the runway’s shoulders of by international standards. We formerly used a cutlass to weed, but we stopped and rented a tractor. However, we realised that it was not sustainable because after renting the tractor for only three days, we paid so much money and the tractor was not even doing any good job for us”.
“This donation by Gold Fields is a big, big, big assistance to not the Air Force base alone but to the general Air Force as a whole. We want the whole nation to know that Gold Fields Ghana has come to our aid and in assuring the safety of our runway; therefore, the significance of this event reaches beyond the transfer of tractors. It symbolises a partnership, founded on shared objectives and a joint commitment to safety and operational efficiency of the base”.
He expressed gratitude to Gold Fields for its profound generosity, adding that the support will have a positive impact on the facility’s operation. “I assure you that knowing the quality of the machine that we have here, if any of you are alive in 50 years’ time to come and you pass by, I can assure you this machine will still be working.”
