The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor has intimated that government’s fight against illegal mining popularly referred to as galamsey may not be successful in a shortest possible time since the problem seems bigger than one can imagine.
The Minister who appeared before the Public Accounts Committee to answer questions regarding 2017 Auditor General’s report on works of Municipal and District Assemblies, said the fight.
According to the Minister, the menace can never be eradicated while admitting that so far, the measures government has taken yielded some results hoping for more successes in the future.
“We have not eradicated illegal small-scale mining, in fact, I am not sure that we can eradicate illegal small-scale mining. The efforts we are making is not an event it is a process, we cannot eradicate or get to a satisfactory situation in respect of illegal small-scale mining overnight.”
It would be recalled that the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in May this year, authorised the Ghana Armed Forces to deploy 200 soldiers to go after all persons involved in illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.
The Military according to the President was to ensure that mining within water bodies are immediately stopped, adding that the operation should commence with immediate concentration on the River Pra in the Central and Western regions of Ghana.
However, the President’s strategy adopted has been criticized by many stakeholders and industry players. One of these people is Dr Toni Aubynn, former CEO for Ghana Chamber of Mines.
He said the President’s strategy of using the military cannot work, saying use of brute force in combating illegal small-scale mining cannot be advisable, hence declared the move a failure. This, he said, was evident in the increase in galamsey operations in spite of the numerous arrests and seizures of excavators by Operation Vanguard.
He noted that what the government must do is to ensure the small-scale miners conform to the environmental regulations during their work rather than using security to fight them.
His position has been confirmed by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor when he admitted that eradicating illegal mining is an arduous task and government may not win.
