The General Secretary of Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners (GNASSM), Mr Godwin Armah has asked government to help out with the small-scale mining industry. He made this request whiles addressing some challenges the small-scale mining sector faces.
Speaking in an interview, Mr. Armah asked the government to support the small-scale mining sector with financial aid to help them come back after the implications the ban caused.
“Because two years of the ban has left most of our members not being able to come back to where they are in terms of their mining. So, there should be some form of stimulus package for the small-scale mining industry.”
He urged government to stop playing politics with concessions saying there was to much of political interference.
“There’s is too much political interference with the allocation of concessions on the small-scale sector. You go to areas, block-out areas and you realize that there is restriction on them unnecessarily and it’s being given to particular class of people.”
He also asked government to support areas in terms of exploration.
“Also, the areas in terms of data exploration, government should also support the exploration. Once the exploration is done… areas in terms of block outs, the small-scale miners will apply for those areas once they know there’s money and then the cost of exploration should be spread over the period of their license for the small-scale mining industry so that we will be able to sustain more explorations from new areas identified or discovered for small-scale mining.”
He, moreover, asked government to reduce the withholding tax from 3% to 1% because the cascading effect it has on the small-scale mining is not easy and it’s gradually killing the sector. He further asked the government to come up with proper documentation on the collection of the tax.
As the corona virus pandemic is still ravaging its way in our daily lives, businesses are seen folding and leaving many people unemployed. As some are worried about when the pandemic will end some are also worried about the state of the economy post COVID-19.
Some analyst came up with assertions that the mining industry will boost the economy post COVID-19. Commenting on this assertion, Mr. Armah said this is possible because as other industries have stopped production, the mining industry has not.
Mr. Armah said that because there is a lot of production going on in the mining sector, government will get a lot of money in terms of taxes and this will serve as an engine of growth.
He also said that the surge in the price of gold is another factor because it has become a safe haven for investors, to ensure that we have safe investment during crisis.
“Once the price of gold goes up, production also goes up.”
He also revealed government is taking 3% per cent withholding tax on every export thus in case of large export, the government will earn much to boost the economy.
