Galamsey: It’s a govt failure – Senyo Hosi

3 News

Sat 12th Oct, 2024 08:26

Businessman and Convener of One Ghana Movement Senyo Hosi has blamed the illegal small-scale mining (Galamsey) at the doorstep of the government.

He says if the government really wants to stop galamsey, it will be able to do so but there is no will to end it.

“This is a failure on the part of the government,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, October 12. He added that “If the government wants this to stop it will stop.”

For his part, South Dayi Member of Parliament Rockson Nelson Dafeamekpor told the Minerals Commission to act against the degradation of the environment by illegal mining.

The member of the Assurances Committee of Parliament stated that as the body mandated by law to act, it is their duty to collaborate with the Police and the army to ensure that the illegal miners are flushed out from the water bodies and the forests.

“It is your duty to ensure that operations of the people you haven’t licensed are stopped, “he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, October 12.

“It is your duty as mandated by the law to ensure the environment is not degraded, It appears that under existing legislation, the Minerals Commission and the EPA they are refusing to invoke their powers under the Law.”

He further suggested that the Minerals Commission and the EPA should own helicopters to enable them to go round the galamsey areas as part of the fight against the menace.

“I am one who believes that the EPA, Minerals should own helicopters by now so that they move around,” he said.

Earlier when he appeared before the Assurance Committee, the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Mr Martin Kwaku Ayisi said that small-scale mining is currently taking place in 13 regions in Ghana.

He explained that small-scale mining is open to only Ghanains hence any foreigner engaged in small-scale mining amounts to illegality.

Explaining what occasioned the illegal small-scale mining (Galamsey), Mr Ayisi said “Small-scale mining taking place in about 12 or 13 regions in Ghana. When I joined the commission it was just five regions  – Ashanti, Central , Eastern, Western which included or covered Western North and Upper East. These were the five regions and we passed the Small Scale Gold Law 1989 and even passed the Mercuruy Law but not the way we are supposed to use it today and also the PMC Law 219, so 217, 219, 218 were passed to regulate small-scale and then we created offices  at Dunkwa, Bibiani, Tarkwa and then Bolga offices

“To delve into our biggest challenge, I will be very blunt with the committee, until that problem is resolved galamsey will not end. In 1986, Prof Akilapa Sawyer, he is still alive, he was the board chair of the Minerals Commission, the CEO was Mr Kofi Ansah also alive. Right from the colonial era through out the ay Nkrumah to the PNDC era, you cant do small-scale mining lawfully so when we sold off the state-owned mines under Kwasi Botchwey because we badly managed them just like GIHOC Ghana Airways and Co, we sold Tarkwa, we sold Prestea, we sold Dunkwa Continental, Akwatia, mines all of them were sold.

“So for 30 years, three decades, government after government did not do it. I remember them, a young lawyer at the Minerals Commission, since 1989 we have not been doing exploration. So if you ask me as an officer of the Minerals Commission, 2nd April 2002, being 22 and half years now, the fundamental cause of illegal smiling or galamsey is getting a place for the miners to work. Until that is resolved we will only go around in the circus.”

Explaining how this can be done, he said “through the graciousness of the large-scale people, AngloGold Ashanti, Newmont, Gold Fields, and co, give us a place, and then we license it for them. secondly, the person whose licenses have been canceled for want of performance, we give it to them. Number three, where by law you are given an area to explore, after three years you are supposed to give half back to the government or to the Minerals Commission so when those ones are returned they come with a surrender report, we give it back to the small scale people.

“The last one is where some of the large-scale people come to us and say we have done a lot of exploration and we want it very big so Minerals Commission, take it and give it out then quickly we plot it, designate it and give it out.”

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