Duker to miners: Help us flush out those polluting our water bodies

The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources ((MLNR), George Mireku Duker, has encouraged small scale miners to join the crusade to flush out illegal miners, popularly known as ‘Galamseyers,’ who are mining in river bodies.

According to him, it was necessary for the small scale miners to join the crusade in other to give evidence to the fact that small scale mining was a regulated one, unlike the other.

That aside, the Deputy Minister who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tarkwa Nsuaem  encouraged  the small scale miners to support Dr. Bawumia’s campaigns and the ruling party manifesto that has prioritised  the mining sector and hopes to employ about one million people with indirect benefit for about five million people.

The Deputy Ministers assured the small scale miners that “2024 is a year for miners. We will establish the Minerals Development Fund to support small scale mining in Ghana”, he assured.

The Deputy Minister, however, said militarisation or brute force would not be the solution for the challenges confronting Ghana’s mining industry.

“We are not operating a junta regime, to warrant the use of violence against people to solve the problems. The solution should be community-centred.”

Duker was speaking in a meeting with the small scale miners at Subin in the Upper Denkyira district of the Central Region, as part of the Miners for Bawumia (M4 B) campaign tours.

MP Duker recalled earlier attempts by the Rawlings, Kufuor, Mahama and Akufo-Addo administrations to apply military force on mining site, but yielded no results.

Consequently, he stressed “we don’t need same solution this time.”

Referring to global challenges faced by South Africa and Australia, he noted that their governments did not ban mining.

Ghanaians, Minister Duker believes, must be given the opportunity to explore the mineral resources, including gold, and not be the sole preserve of foreigners and multinationals who would later repatriate their profits to home countries.

He argued, however, that the new agenda to sanitise the mining industry and restore sanity was to deploy personnel clothed with body cameras and tracking devices linked to national systems in Accra to monitor real time violations of mining laws and regulations.

“We need to change the narrative and restore the image of mining in this country and not this ban agenda. Some politicians are hiding behind characters pushing for the ban. Because of the quest for political power, some groups say we use brute force. Let’s be alert.”

The NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Subin, Rudolph Amoako Gyampa, appealed to government to expedite applications for mining licences, complaining that delays encouraged attempts at illegal mining activities.

He added, “We need to weed out the bad nuts and ensure the regulations are adhered to. We don’t need the ban, but let’s encourage responsible mining and safeguard our water bodies from pollution and destruction from the Chang Fan operations. Clearly, reclamation is also key to our agenda of restoring the image of the industry.”

The Chief of Subin, Nana Kobea Asante II, was happy about the meeting, which enabled stakeholders to discuss and reflect on how responsible mining could salvage the knee industry from the challenges today.

He continued, “Chiefs have no knowledge about what pertains in the licensing regime, but we are blamed for the situation today. Decisions are taken and we have been side-lined. We believe with the new arrangement, our roles will be recognised.”

The Chairman of the Precious Small Scale Mining, Awudu Issaka, suggested the decentralisation of licensing regime from national to regional or district levels to reduce the bureaucracy, improve inclusivity and also promote the local industry in Ghana.

He said the meeting with the Deputy Minister had assured members that they would not be banned and advised the group to support the crusade to rid water bodies’ of illegalities and pollution.

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