The Central Region chairman of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) and 2020 Parliamentary Candidate for Agona East Constituency, Samuel Aryeequaye, has suggested to the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to close down all community mining companies for some time and introduce strict regulations.
According to him, the community mining companies have become a hindrance to the government’s war against galamsey.
Speaking to the media, the UN Best Diplomat’s representative described the Community Mining Scheme as ‘Galamsey Pro-Max’.
According to him, the said initiative is no different from galamsey.
“It is the same practice with a polished name,” he said.
Despite efforts by government in fighting illegal mining for many years, the situation seems to get worse by the day.
Over the years, galamsey operations have destroyed the country’s agricultural lands and contaminated many water bodies.
As a result, there are already reported cases of water shortages in various parts of the nation.
Most of the illegal galamsey operations are said to be carried out by Chinese nationals who use heavy machinery in their illegal activity.
The President, through the Minister in charge of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, introduced a new module – Community Mining Scheme – to replace the antiquated and more harmful galamsey practices and also to empower mining communities economically as part of efforts to regulate small-scale mining activities in the nation.
Samuel Aryeequaye says all these community mining companies must be closed down with immediate effect if the government is indeed serious about this fight.
He claims that many illegal miners are operating secretly behind these community mining companies, further polluting the nation’s water sources and damaging its agricultural land though this initiative was introduced to sanitize the system.
He is absolutely confident that if these community mining firms continue to function, the government’s investment in the fight against galamsey will be in vain.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana