President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has spoken on the vexing matter of unlawful mining within the nation.
There is a swelling of protests, calls and industrial actions demanding for fast motion to curb the menace which has broken rivers and farms.
The President is asking on the Attorney-General to collaborate with the Chief Justice to make sure swift adjudication of unlawful mining circumstances.
He additional reiterated that every one types of mining in water our bodies, in addition to reconnaissance, prospecting, exploration and small-scale mining in forest reserves remained banned, mandating the regulation enforcement companies to work assiduously to rid the designated pink zones of all types of mining.
These measures are a part of the result of the latest emergency assembly between the President and organised labour on the Jubilee House, Accra, which sought to discover a lasting answer to the unlawful small-scale mining (galamsey) menace.
An announcement issued by the Ministry of Information on the assembly, added that the federal government would take steps, when the Parliament reconvened this month, to revoke the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, 2023 (L. I. 2462).
“Government reiterates its commitment to the fight against illegal small-scale mining and calls on all stakeholders to join the fight,” the assertion mentioned.
It mentioned the assembly mentioned the long-standing subject of unlawful mining, reviewed the scenario and the federal government’s efforts to this point.
In spite of the event, labour unions have nonetheless declared their intention to stage a nationwide strike efficient October 10, to precise their dissatisfaction at what they described as the federal government’s lukewarm perspective in opposition to unlawful small-scale mining.
The Nana Akufo-Addo-led Administration, responding to public outcry in opposition to the adverse results of ‘galamsey’, positioned a ban on unlawful small-scale mining actions in March 2017.
That transfer stopped each authorized small-scale and the unlawful artisanal miners from finishing up any such exercise, in an try and get better Ghana’s misplaced forest cowl, whereas addressing air pollution of the water our bodies.
The daring initiative achieved some important success as a comparability of the final water high quality standing of the water our bodies within the Pra Basin in 2013 and 2018, utilizing the Water Quality Index (WQI), which confirmed a marginal enchancment in high quality in 2018 over that of 2013.
The enchancment of water high quality was attributable to the ban.
‘Galamsey’ continues to be a risk to forest and water sources in Ghana because the nation has just lately seen an upsurge within the menace.
This has been condemned by numerous identifiable teams, together with environmental scientists, researchers and civil society organisations.
It is estimated that some 34 main forest reserves within the nation have been considerably affected resulting from unlawful small-scale mining, with a complete of 4, 726.2 hectares of forests being dissipated or degraded because of the mining illegalities carried out in these reserves.
According to the Forestry Commission, among the worst affected forest reserves are Apamprama, Subin Shelterbelt and Oda River Forest within the Ashanti Region.
The Ministry of Information indicated that the federal government had resolved to ramp up its enforcement measures, significantly because it associated to prohibiting unlawful mining in water our bodies and forest reserves.
“Water bodies and forest reserves remain red zones for mining,” the assertion emphasised.
Source: GNA
