Benito Owusu-Bio, Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, has disclosed that the government is not satisfied with the results of the fight against illegal mining activities, due to the complexities of the industry and the huge sums of money involved.
Hon Benito Owusu-Bio stated that, although the government continued to put in place the necessary measures to deal with illegal mining, popularly known as ‘Galamsey’, it ought to be noted that the fight against the menace was not an event but a process.
“After decades of destruction, the results of our policies may not be immediately obvious. But we will continue to work with all stakeholders to protect our lands and forest as well as our water bodies, for current and future generations.”
Mr Benito Bio
The Minister noted that although the small-scale mining industry contributed roughly a third of the country’s total gold production, its impact on the environment in recent years had sadly, become associated with environmental degradation and water pollution.
According to Mr Owusu-Bio, since the beginning of last year, the government had implemented several policies and programmes aimed at coming to grips with this canker.
“We declared river bodies as red zones for mining, banned reconnaissance, prospecting and or exploration in forest reserves, launched Operation Halt II to rid river bodies and forest reserves of illegal mining activities, introduced speed boats and river guards to patrol and protect our river bodies.
“We also Banned the manufacture, sale and or use of the floating platform, popularly referred to as Changfan, enhanced the punishment regime for persons involved in illegal mining, revamped Community Mining Scheme and developed an Operation Manual to regulate their operations.”
Mr Benito
More Efforts To Fight Galamsey Menace
The minister stated that with the support of Parliament, under the Minerals and Mining Amendment Act, 2019 (Act 995), the government had enhanced the punishment regime and increased the punishment for people engaging in illegal mining. A minimum of 15 years imprisonment together with a fine of not less than 10, 000 penalty units for Ghanaians and a minimum of 20 years imprisonment, together with a fine of not less than 100,000 penalty units for foreigners. This is done with the hope that those found guilty would be made to face the full strictness of the law.
“This scope of measures has yielded some positive results, with a surge in the number of prosecutions and convictions for persons involved in illegal mining including the famous Aisha Huang.”
Mr Benito Bio
Hon Owusu-Bio noted that as part of efforts to fight ‘Galamsey’, the government had also introduced mercury-free gold processing equipment known as Gold Katch to prevent the use of mercury in gold processing, to fulfil obligations under the Minamata Alternative Employment and Livelihood Programme to provide alternative sources of livelihood to those engaged in illegal and unsustainable mining practices.
The Deputy Minister further Indicated that, the government had revised the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission and recruited more mine inspectors to enforce mining regulations.
The lawmaker noted that, by section 92 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), Small Scale Mining Committees in all 83 mining districts of the country had been established to assist the District Offices of the Minerals Commissions to effectively monitor small scale mining operations.
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