Illegal small-scale miners in the Amansie West district of the Ashanti Region have threatened to return to their sites if the government fails to immediately spell out the guidelines for operations vis-à-vis licensed small-scale and illegal mining.
According to the miners, the government’s outright ban on small-scale mining is affecting those of them who are doing licensed mining.
At a public forum held by illegal miners, chiefs and other stakeholders at Manso Nkwanta on Monday, some of the miners complained bitterly that they were doing licensed mining but had been lumped up with their colleagues involved in illegal mining.
The forum was organised by Member of Parliament for Manso Nkwanta, Joseph Albert Quarm, who is advocating a redemarcation of mining concessions to small-scale miners under a supervised regime.
Also, hundreds of illegal miners in the Prestea Hemang district of the Western Region picketed the palace of their chief on Monday as the two deputies of the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources held a meeting with the traditional leader over galamsey issues.
The Akufo-Addo government has resolved to uproot galamsey which is destroying water bodies, forests, and crop farms. The crusade is being led by Lands and Natural Resources Minister John Peter Amewu who says the “government is not anti-mining at all but we are a government that believes that the current methodology that is applied in the process is wrong, cruel and wicked to human generations in this country”.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
