Research staff are calling for the reconvening of Parliament for the urgent repealing of Legislative Instrument (L.I) 2462, officially known as the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations 2022.
A joint statement issued by the Research Staff Association (RSA) and the Research Scientists Association (RSA) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) said if parliamentarians can reconvene to grant tax exemptions, same urgency must be attached toward repealing LI 2462 to fight illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
This demand adds to the many Ghanaian voices calling for a ban on illegal mining activities and the declaration of a state of emergency against destructive practices.
“We further demand that Parliament be urgently recalled to immediately repeal the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulation 2022 (L.I. 2462), which permits mining in forest reserves. If Members of Parliament can be recalled to grant tax exemptions for companies they believe bring substantial investments, they should act with similar urgency to address the galamsey crisis.
“This issue is a ticking time bomb, threatening to derail all the economic gains and investments made by the nation, and thus immediate action is needed,” the researchers statement read in part.
L.I. 2462 is a legislative instrument in Ghana that allows for mining activities within forest reserves under certain conditions, permitting mining if deemed in the national interest.
Other associations and groups, including Organised Labour, have given the government up to the end of September to find a lasting solution to the menace or face a series of industrial strikes.
