Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng
THE BAN on small-scale mining activities across the country is likely to be lifted before Christmas, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, has said.
Prof. Frimpong Boateng who doubles as the Chairman of the Inter-ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (ICIM) formed by President Akufo-Addo in March 2017, made this known at the Ministry of Information in Accra during the launch of a roadmap for the lifting of the ban.
According to him, government has put in place a proper roadmap that will lead to an imminent and swift lifting of the ban placed on small-scale mining.
He briefed the media that the date for the lifting of the ban has not yet been decided but was however, quick to indicate that government was in constant deliberation with all necessary stakeholders including the Small-Scale Miners Association so as to ensure the smooth and timely lifting of the ban.
He stated: “The ban will be lifted and then the names of all the companies that have been vetted will be listed in the newspapers; now somebody will ask me when exactly, I cannot say now but I know that his Excellency the president will want small scale miners to spend the Christmas very well.”
Miners, Exporters Unhappy
But members of the Small-Scale Miners Association and the Association of Gold Exporters of Ghana (AGEG) reacting to the announcement expressed their displeasure over the fact that the Committee has not given what they termed as a definite timeline for the lifting of the ban.
Chairman of AGEG, Kobina Asante Asare told DAILY GUIDE on the sidelines of the launch that releasing just a roadmap without giving a clear timeline as to when the ban is finally going to be lifted does not solve any problem.
According to him, “Road map, road map, it doesn’t solve the problem, we were expecting him to tell us what they have done so far and then at least give us some sort of indication when they are going to lift the ban but it didn’t happen. As for roadmap, it’s roadmap, it’s on paper. It doesn’t help anybody, so my reaction, well, they are doing well, they have done well so far but today’s meeting did not go fine enough.”
He added that “If they say before Christmas, let’s all of us wait and see if they will lift it before Christmas. All what I am saying is that they are coming to give us some time frame but if you say before Christmas, it’s wide open. 24th will be before Christmas; 22nd December will be before Christmas, that is the problem that I am talking about.”
Background of Ban
It would be recalled that the ban on all small-scale mining activities was introduced by President Nana Akufo-Add in February 2017, in order to stop the negative effects illegal small-scale mining activities otherwise known as galamsey, were having on river bodies and the environment in Ghana.
An Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) was established in March, 2017 by the president to probe the activities of the galamseyers and also to go into a deliberation with them and all necessary stakeholders.
Arrests, Prosecutions
As part of government’s initiative to stop illegal mining activities in the country, the President formed a taskforce known as Operation Vanguard.
The Taskforce, Prof. Frimpong Boateng reported, has so far been able to arrest 1, 339 illegal miners made up of foreigners such as persons from DR. Congo, China among others and that out of the number, there has been 10 percent prosecution so far.
He stated that about 614 excavators, 84 vehicles, 82 motors, 5,739 Changfans among others were seized in the process.
The minister added that his outfit has gathered information that some small-scale miners have fled to other neighboring countries and they are not very happy about that.
“Sadly we know that a lot of the small-scale miners have migrated to other West African countries and recently there were calls that a lot of Ghanaians were being seen in Liberia doing galamsey; we are not happy about that but we are happy that they are not disturbing us,” he added.
BY Melvin Tarlue & Amanallah Tahiru