Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Former President John Dramani Mahama has promised to tackle illegal small-scale mining ruthlessly.
The first step will be to audit all mining concessions issued and identify beneficial owners of such concessions, he said.
He says that concession owners will be held liable for illegal mining within their concession areas.
Addressing the clergy in Accra on Tuesday, October 1, Mr Mahama said “Small-scale mining is recognised by law and must be done in a manner that does not harm the environment. We will audit all concessions issued and identify the beneficial owners of such concessions. Concession owners will be held responsible for illegal mining within their concession areas.
“We will promote responsible mining but wage a ruthless war against illegal mining, Galamsey. This will involve an aggressive programme to reclaim our polluted water bodies, degraded lands and devastated forest reserves through a Tree for Life and Blue Water initiative.”
In this endeavour, he said he “shall ban the grant of new mining leases and activities in forest reserves and amend the Mineral and Mining Law to impose stiffer punishment on mining in water bodies. Under my government, all officials will be prohibited from engaging in legal or illegal mining. Small-scale miners will be compelled to undertake skills training in modern responsible methods and land reclamation techniques as a required component of their operations to minimise their adverse environmental impacts.”
Through a consultative approach, I will improve the implementation of the Free SHS programme to enhance quality by providing a dedicated source of funding for the program, scrapping the double-track system, and decentralising the procurement of food, among other things.
