Naana Eyiah, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources
A Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Naana Eyiah, has warned youth in mining communities in the Western North Region to desist from engaging in illegal mining also called ‘galamsey’.
She told the youth that there had been a new law and that any person found guilty of engaging in illegal mining or galamsey could be jailed a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of 25 years.
She also called on chiefs and opinion leaders in the mining communities to impress upon their youth to stop illegal mining.
The deputy minister stated this when she met with opinion leaders and the youth of Nkatieso, a mining community near Bibiani in the Western North Region.
Naana Eyiah was in the area to sensitise the youth on the havoc galamsey activities had caused and the adverse impact it could have on their general well-being.
According to the deputy minister, galamsey was not the only job available to the youth in the mining areas as had been perceived.
She stressed that there were other alternative income earning ventures the youth could go into.
She also sensitized the females who were engaged in galamsey on the need to venture into other income generating activities and the government would support them.
She explained that the move by the government to increase the jail term of illegal miners was to bring some sanity in the sector.
She pointed out that the government was ready to provide the necessary support to the youth, particularly the females who who were once engaged in illegal mining, to either learn a trade or continue their education.
“We believe that the initiative to assist the youth to venture into other income generating activities would help eliminate illegal mining in all the mining areas of the country,” she said.
“All those interested in small scale mining can also acquire licenses to operate and stop galamsey that was degrading the environment and denying government the necessary revenue for development”, she added.
She continued the government would continue to implement laws that would deter perpetrators of such illegal activities.
The Western North Regional Minister, Kingsley Aboagye Gyedu indicated that his outfit was poised to assist the youth with requisite qualification to continue their education in tertiary institutions.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Nkatieso