The Western Regional Minister, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah has lamented that several campaigns and measures taken by the Government, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the media to wage war against the illegal mining popularly known as “galamsey” have not yielded the expected results.
He noted that the issue of illegal mining has become a great challenge to the country with the Government rolling out several measures to address the menace.
However, the activities of illegal mining continue to destroy our lands, water bodies and depleted forest reserves of the country.
Mr Darko-Mensah who was speaking at a staff durbar at the forecourt of the Residency noted that if proper measures were not outlined to guide the illegal miners to operate according to the laws of the country, they would hide and carry out their activities without the notice of the authorities.
Against this background, he directed the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) in the region to encode all the galamsey sites as a means to address the menace.
He pointed out that the code would be in a GPS form to give unique numbers to all the mining sites and enable the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) to develop a proper data of all the mining sites in the region for effective monitoring.
He added that the exercise would also help them monitor the activities of illegal miners to ensure they comply with responsible mining directives to preserve the land and the forest reserves.
He further explained that after the coding exercise has been completed, the RCC will engage and train the illegal miners on how to mine responsibly to ensure a sustainable mining in the region.
He explained that some of the miners have received training from the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) as part of measures outlined by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining to mine responsibly.
Story: Seth Ameyaw Danquah
