The Director of Communications of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia’s Campaign Team, Dennis Miracles Aboagye has indicated that the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearer’s suggestions for solving issues in the mining sector are not entirely new.
He, however, pointed out that while successive governments have put forward identical plans to address the long-standing issue of galamsey in Ghana’s mining industry, none have been successfully executed these plans, resulting in a lack of progress in tackling this pervasive problem.
“I think that some of the things we haven’t really done are some of these that Dr. Bawumia is speaking of. So you may have seen them being suggested by previous governments but they have not really been implemented in a way that we would want to measure its effectiveness. What Dr. Bawumia is suggesting is to retry some of these which have been on the drawing board for a while now”.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye
He further clarified that the crusade in the mining sector is not aimed at small-scale mining, but rather at illegal mining, commonly referred to as galamsey.
He stressed that the drive to combat galamsey is necessitated by its devastating impact on the country’s water resources, including rivers, and forests which are being endangered by this illicit activity.
Moreover, he praised the Vice President’s proposals as a pragmatic approach to addressing the mining sector’s challenges.
He emphasized that rather than simply cracking down on small-scale miners, the Vice President’s policy suggestions focus on enhancing their productivity through collaborative measures.
As such, he noted that the Vice President’s plan involves partnering with large mining companies to repurpose their abandoned equipment, making it easier for small-scale miners to operate effectively.
More so, he indicated that the partnership with major mining firms will also enable small-scale miners to utilize the abandoned shafts of these companies, thereby reducing the environmental risks associated with small-scale mining near rivers and forests.
This collaborative approach, he noted, will not only enhance the productivity of small-scale miners but also help preserve the country’s natural resources by minimizing the ecological footprint of mining activities.
Keeping Ghana’s Gold In Ghana
Furthermore, Dennis Miracles Aboagye revealed that the Vice President plans to provide financial support for small-scale miners to cover exploration costs, thereby preventing them from surrendering significant portions of their concessions to foreign companies in exchange for exploration expenses.
This initiative, he emphasized, will guarantee that Ghana’s gold resources remain within the country’s control and reserves, rather than being exploited by external entities.
“It is obvious that mining is the vocation of people in these mining areas. For a lot of them, that is what they are accustomed to. So Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is saying that we review the curriculum for our technical vocational education institutions so that we embed in it training for safe and appropriate mining. So right from the secondary level, we have a lot of people understanding some of these things”.
Dennis Miracles Aboagye
Moreover, he highlighted that the training program for small-scale miners under the TVET initiative, conducted in collaboration with the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), has yielded positive outcomes.
He noted that this is evident in the successful establishment of community mining schemes in various mining districts across the country, which serves as a testament to the effectiveness of the training program in empowering small-scale miners.
“That is why we are of the view that instead of making it a crash program at UMaT, we embed it into the curriculum and make it part of technical and vocational education training”. – Dennis Aboagye
He indicated that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia aims to enhance the mining sector by making small-scale mining a profitable venture for miners and the nation at large, fostering economic growth and development.
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