District mining committees established to manage small-scale mining

Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah Mills has said 24 district mining committees (DMCs) have been created to manage small-scale mining, as efforts are being stepped up under the local content initiative to increase the number of local products used by mining companies.

 

“It will take all of us at the community, district, and regional levels to work together with the chiefs, landowners and community members to address the issue of illegal small-scale mining.”

Minister Nii Osah Mills speaking at a media briefing in Accra confirmed that illegal mining is being tackled at the district level, and taskforce groups have been created to halt the illegality, adding that taskforce at various communities are being established to monitor mining activities in the area and ensure that the right thing is done.

He explained that the recent launch of the Minerals and Mining Policy is targeted at helping diversify the mineral production base as well as promote more sustainable support base for the economy.

The policy, he  said will provide the general strategic framework for the minerals and mining sector,also serve as a key input in developing the country’s mining vision, based on the ‘Africa Mining Vision’ and aim to ensure a high level of environmental stewardship in the exploitation and use of the country’s mineral resources as well as optimise tax revenue generation,

It will also ensure transparency and equitable distribution of the mineral wealth.

Commenting on the contribution of the mining sector, Mr. Mills, explained that over the past years, the mining sector contributed 14.4 per cent to the country’s revenue adding that since 1991, it had been the single largest contributor to total merchandise export, with gold accounting for 95 per cent of the mineral portfolio.

He indicated that government was streamlining small-scale mining operations in the country by re-categorizing their operations to exclusively include artisanal operators, in addition to the implementation of a system to track Heavy Duty Equipment used in small-scale mining in order to identify and arrest illegal miners.

Under the Land Sector, Mr Mills said, the government is improving the delivery of land registration and other land-related services to the general public by establishing a Client Service Access Unit to serve as a front office for the Lands Commission and to provide a platform for a ‘one-stop-shop’ land service delivery.

He said that the storage and retrieval of records had been one of the major bottlenecks in the operations of the Lands Commission and that to overcome this challenge, the government was developing a Ghana Enterprise Land Information System (GELIS), which would, further, consolidate and improve the gains made by the Commission.

For the Forestry sub-sector, the Minister disclosed that the Ministry had supported the Forestry Commission in the implementation of a number of sustainable forest management strategies, key amongst them include the development of forest reserve management plans, about 30 of which plans, he said, had, so far, been completed.

Mr. Mills expressed worry about the intense encroachment and destruction of the forest and wildlife resources of the country as a result of illegal settlements, farming, poaching, mining and chainsaw operations adding that the establishment of the Rapid Response Unit including the Military and Police Task Force within the Forestry Commission will help address such problem