Zhu Jing
The Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, Zhu Jing, says his compatriots cannot travel to Ghana to engage in illegal mining without the support of the local people.
“Those Chinese illegal miners cannot come all the way from China to Ghana without the facilitation, support and shelter from the local people,” he said.
Making a contribution at a round-table discussion organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) on the theme, “The Galamsey Menace in Ghana; The way forward,” last Monday, Mr. Zhu said the time has come for Ghanaian authorities to focus on local collaborators instead of always concentrating on foreigners, particularly the Chinese, all the time.
He maintained that “the cause of illegal mining lies in Ghana likewise the key to solve the problem lies with Ghana.”
The Deputy Chief of Mission indicated that illegal mining had led to indiscriminate land degradation and destruction of water bodies.
He also pointed out that there appeared to be lapses in Ghana’s mining laws which make it difficult to prevent foreigners from engaging in illegal mining.
Zhu Jing made reference to Minerals and Mining Act 2006, which explicitly prohibited foreigners from engaging in small-scale mining, but the Minerals and Mining Support Regulation 2012 allowed foreigners to provide mining support services.
“In practice, it’s difficult to tell what small-scale mining is and what providing mining support service is. This leaves a huge loophole for foreigners to engage in illegal mining,” he explained.
The Ghana-China relations, he observed, have been characterised by huge investments in the country so far.
Such a relation, he stated, should not be marred by Chinese illegal mining activities which had been portrayed by the media to be the full picture of relations between both countries.
He added that China, which is opposed to illegal mining, has barred its nationals from engaging in illegal mining activities.
He said China would support Ghana to tackle environmental degradation through the provision of technical support.
“Due to joint cooperation between Ghana and China, Chinese illegal miners have declined and many of them have already left Ghana,” he stressed.
The Convener of Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Kenneth Ashigbey, attributed ‘galamsey’ to leadership failure in the country.
He said that the lack of engagement of local mining communities in the decision making process, undue political pressure, cumbersome license acquisition process and lack of commitment from traditional authorities in mining communities to fight the menace is making the country a value-laden state.
A Professor of Mining Engineering at the University of Mines and Technology, Prof Sulemana Al-Hassan, stressed the need to strengthen relations between small-scale miners and UMAT for capacity building purposes.
By Issah Mohammed and Mohammed Brimah