The Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners has urged the Minister-designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, to be resolute in the fight against illegal mining activities if approved by Parliament.
According to the association, efforts made by successive governments to eradicate the canker has proven futile due to political machinations.
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Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of the Small Scale Miners Association, Godwin Amar said the union is willing to assist the Minister-Designate in the fight against illegal mining.
He further urged Mr. Jinapor to exhibit integrity in his oversight of the sector.
He should be very courageous, and he should ensure that he is not corrupted by some of the actors within the industry. We have some DCEs who are also part of the whole process.”
“But once he is resolute, he will be able to overcome and we as an association, we are prepared to support him 100 percent for him to be able to tackle this,” Mr. Amar added.
Mr. Amar noted that illegal mining activities had intensified ahead of the 2020 general election and has continued to contribute to the destruction of water bodies in the mining areas.
In addition, the coronavirus pandemic meant illegal mining received attention.
“With COVID-19 also in place, the focus is much on COVID-19 so now the illegal miners have their field day,” Mr. Amar said.
If you go round the Eastern, Western, Ashanti regions and where mining takes place, it is either the issue of water pollution is rising, land degradation is also the same, and the issue of community mining is one of the issues that have caused the illegality to rise.”
Source: CNR