‘Desist from fronting for the Chinese’

Dr. Aubynn, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines has appealed to individuals and politicians to desist from fronting for the Chinese to carry out illegal mining activities as the country will be the long-term loser.

“We as a country should be law-abiding enough to stop getting the Chinese into the country,” he said.
“The Chinese are mostly assisted by Ghanaians to enter the country and engage in illegal mining, and these foreign nationals are polluting the country’s environment including the water-bodies.

“The influx of Chinese illegal miners into the country and the resultant illegal mining engagement could have serious implications on the future of the sector,” said Dr. Aubynn at a media interaction organised by the Chamber with support from Gold Fields Ghana Limited in Takoradi.

Dr. Aubynn, observed that in the Eastern Region, for example, every “stone” one picks may see a Chinese hiding under it, which goes to illustrate the extent to which these people have flooded into the country in the name of illegal mining.

Though China had emerged as an economic super-power and is playing a huge economic role in Africa, certain behavioural patterns that are destructive to the environment and the economy as a whole must not be condoned, he said.