Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor wants Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) as well as Regional Ministers to help fight illegal mining in the country.
Mr. Jinapor said the continuous practice of galamsey in many parts of the country is a worry.
Addressing a forum of MMDCEs and Regional Ministers in the Ashanti Region after touring some galamsey sites, the Minister said government cannot win the fight if all stakeholders are not involved.
“The fight against illegal mining can only be won if we all collectively put our support behind the fight. Mining is never conducted in the office, it is conducted out there, and the people who are responsible for the various jurisdictions of the country are the ones to come to terms with this matter.”
Samuel Jinapor also said persons in charge of institutions regulating mining activities in the Amansie South Municipality of the Ashanti Region should be held responsible for the destruction caused by illegal miners.
The Minister who visited the mining sites was amazed at the level of destruction caused to the environment by illegal miners and said the Government will continue to deploy the military to clamp down on such activities.
“It should baffle all of us as citizens and policymakers and stakeholders in this fight how an operation like this in the heart of the forest and the far away areas of our country can go on without notice by police, chiefs, the local political leadership, assembly people, the District Chief Executive and even the inspectorate division of the minerals commission here,” Mr. Jinapor said.
There has been a heightened focus on the effects of illegal miners following the arrest of Aisha Huang, a Chinese woman notorious for her links to illegal mining.
Tracts of farmlands and forest reserves have been destroyed by activities of illegal miners, with pits left abandoned.
Military deployment to some mining districts in the Ashanti Region this week led to the arrest of one person and the seizure of some mining equipment used for illegal mining activities.
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