Chamber of Mines calls on sector Minister

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, wants a strong collaboration with the Ghana Chamber of Mines to help ensure sanity in the mining industry and deal with the canker of illegal mining.

He said the activities of the illegal miners strike at the heart of the country and have dire consequences for critical areas of citizens’ lives, especially the indiscriminate destruction of forests and sources of water.

The Minister, who was speaking during a courtesy-call by members of the Chamber, said it is important that Ghanaians begin to identify those who tacitly support the illegal activities of the miners for them to be punished accordingly.

“We must begin to lift the veil to see the people working in concert with the illegal miners,” he said, adding that the security agencies need to be empowered to seize and confiscate the equipment being used in the illegal activities.

The Minister said while the fight against illegal miners will not be easy, it is necessary to fashion out a comprehensive and coordinated approach to ensure that the practice is brought to an end.

Alhaji Fuseini said as long as a framework had been provided for Ghanaians to take advantage and engage in meaningful small-scale mining by registering, anything contrary to this will be dealt with.
He said it is totally unacceptable for non-Ghanaians who are not permitted to engage in small-scale mining to be engaged in such activities.

Dr. Toni Aubynn, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, said mining contributes over 28 percent of the country’s revenue and pledged to work with Government to ensure that mining becomes meaningful to Ghanaians.

He said the Chamber of Mines is not opposed to the idea of Ghanaians participating in small-scale mining as prescribed by the law, but said the foreigners engaged in the practice must be dealt with by the law as they infringe on the country’s sovereignty.

“We all want Ghanaians to participate in the small-scale mining, but authorities recognise that those who are doing it outside the law must be dealt with, because they are breaking the law.

“If you see a foreigner doing small-scale mining, obviously it means he’s doing something wrong.

“We would like to pledge our complete support for Government and our willingness to work to ensure that mining becomes meaningful to all stakeholders in the industry,” he said.