Kenneth Koomson, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Ghana Federation of Labour, has said government has agreed to revoke the Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2462, which permits mining in forest reserves.
Mr. Koomson says the assurance came as part of Organised Labour’s engagement with government Thursday, October 03, 2024, adding that the government has also assured to deploy military into forest reserves to provide protection to combat illegal mining.
“The substance of this meeting is for the government to respond to the demands that Organised Labour has made with respect to the galamsey issue and how our forest reserves are being depleted.
“Government agreed to respond officially to the demands that we have made. In fact, the government agreed that the L.I. 2462 was going to be revoked, parliament when it reconvenes – steps were going to be taken to ensure that the L.I. 2462 which is one of the demands is revoked,” he said on Accra-based JoyNews Thursday, October 03, 2024.
Meanwhile, Koomson says the leadership insisted that the government presents a written document to officially confirm the agreement to ensure transparency and clarity.
“When we receive the response, we will call an organised labour meeting, table the response of government and discuss it thoroughly and once that has been discussed, we will issue our response to government – this is the position,” he added.
A recent report by The Fourth Estate revealed how some politically exposed persons were scrambling for licenses to mine in Ghana’s forest reserves including areas that are not to be touched.
This comes after several other reports have cited persons in the governing party including the NPP Chairman of the Ashanti region, Bernard Antwi Boasiako, also known as Wontumi, engaging in mining in forest reserves.
Some environmentalists have been calling on the government to withdraw the L.I. to protect the forest reserves.
Source:onuaonline.com