Allocation of Mining Concessions to Government Officials is affecting fight against Galamsey -PR, Small Scale Mining Association

The Communication Director of the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Mining (GNASSM), Association, Abdul Razak has blamed the failure of government major interventions against illegal mining on the involvement and allocation of mining concession to government officials who lack the technical knowhow to embark on responsible mining.

This follows the recent tour by the deputy lands and natural resource minister, Hon Mireku Durker, the press and other stakeholders within the Wassa Akropong and other sorrounding commminities which indicated that illegal mining was in full operation.

According to Mr. Adul Raza , instead of government to allocate  concessions to already existing Small Scale Miners who are already in business and understand the technicalities and modalities of the business, concessions have been allocated to Party faithful, Ministers, Military  and Police officials who don’t have enough knowledge about the trade .

He added that there is a standard approach to mining including proper registration, effective management, proper supervision, use of appropriate technology and adherence to mining regulations but due to the fact that regulators are participating in the business, maintaining of the highest standards have become a challenge therefore making it difficult for past and present government to succeed in their approaches toward fighting the menace.

‘‘Have you ever seen any politician who have been imprisoned for illegal mining before but we mostly see young men who are always in the grips of the police for Galamsey ’’? He questioned,

He went ahead to explain that the people who are mostly caught by the police and imprisoned are just the vulnerable who have been hired to work on behalf of the kingpins who are always behind the scene.

He urged government to ensure that concessions are given to small scale miners with the technical knowhow to do responsible mining.

The president of Ghana so far has put his presidency on the line in his drive to fight against Galamsey, used military intervention(Operation vanguard), as well as introduced community mining as an effective alternative to illegal mining but non of these measures seem to be yielding the appropriate result.

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, 25th July, 2019, launched the Community Mining Programme at Wassa Akropong, in the Western Region.

The Community Mining Programme is aimed at formalizing mining in selected communities across the country.

Per the program atleast one community mine expected to be set up in each of the mining districts in the country, the community mines will provide employment for more than 4,500 miners that were trained by Government at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa.