The devastating effect of surface, small scale and illegal mining in post 2000s is no longer news.
Fact is, from Kyebi to Amansie, Offin Dunkwa to Wassa Akropong, illegal mining is done in the open while people with power to change things are sitting aloof as the proverbial “Simpa Payin”.
Actors in this trade have demonstrated clearly that they neither see nor hear any evil. Even former president Mahama [whose tenure galamsey prospered] overlooked his constitutional responsibility to protect the natural resources that had been vested in him in trust on behalf of Ghanaians. It is his administration that Chinese nationals connived with locals to dig in river bodies and to cut down cocoa trees.
The new administration must not fail in fighting the canker. Below are some suggestions from some stakeholders I have listened to for government’s own perusal. They are in two forms; the gentleman approach and the hard bite.
THE GENTLEMAN APPROACH
“The position of the chiefs in the region towards ending illegal mining and its devastating effect is that, government must decentralize the award of mining license. During the discussions leading up to the award of a prospecting or whatever licenses, the chief in that area, the assembly member and DCE in these areas must be part of the discussion. You don’t sit somewhere and award contract to people when these people are not present. It is when a chief feels he is not benefiting from the extraction of the resource on his land that will motivate him to give the land out even before government does.”
“Today, a farmer or a chief may be there only to see someone with license claiming to be coming from government, telling you they are going to mine in your area. The contracting processes must include locals such that they can better police the miners.”
“Government should deliberately resource security agencies in the areas the illegality is happening. The political will must come. This will end!”
“We must not entertain people who have no respect for our laws and our environment. Our laws must be allowed to work. Vote for me. If you do, I will ensure those Chinese abusing our environment are sacked and sent back to their country.
Street opinion
“Get the House of chiefs to mobilize its members for a tour to the Daboase Water Headworks in the western region. Let them see the kind of water that end up in their kitchens and their food. Those involved will understand!”
Galamsey operator at Wassa Akropong.
“What do you expect me and my friends to do for a living? This is what we do for living. There are no alternative jobs promising like this for us to do. If we get jobs, we will leave these pits to do. That job must be paying enough to cater for our needs”.
THE HARD BITE
Illegal mining can be put into two forms; those doing it on land and those doing alluvial gold mining.
Start with those doing alluvial mining in the Pra, Birim, Ankobra etc. Give amnesty to operators and owners of Changfans along all the affected rivers to hand over their machines. Give them one or two months to do this. Destroy them publicly! Excavators can serve many other purposes.
Task BNI officers in districts along affected rivers to identify homes or persons keeping the machines and arrest them for prosecution. Please ensure the chiefs stay out of this. No sympathy! Try and have people who will also watch the back of BNI officers too.
Avoid using violence. The boys and girls on the rivers are only looking for daily bread by working for some big wigs. Do not brutalize them! It will be needless.
That said; follow up to criminalize the use of Changfans, including its importation. Follow up with regular checkups in the communities for any other hidden Changfan. When this is done, the war on galamsey will be won for us to get less chlorine and alum in our drinking water.
For those doing it in forest reserves, stop the Minerals Commission from issuing out further mineral prospecting licenses.
Sack the commission’s district directors in areas where the illegal mining is rampant. They are involved! Revoke the license of those currently permitted to work in the Tonton, Upper Wassa and the Fure River Forest Reserves in the Western Region.
For those on land, declare amnesty too. Call for a halt in all small scale mining activities, registered or otherwise. Solicit those with genuine documents from the others. Be mindful of fake “papers”. Follow those with genuine documents to their operational sites to see environmental regulation compliance. I believe some have violated the laws. Revoke their license if necessary. Task genuine miners to check intruders.
Those with “dead papers” punish them by a huge fine and revoke their license for a determined time.
To those using excavators for surface mining, they are not to be called small scale. They are medium scale. Give them a demarcated site and train them to respect the environment. Give them strict guidelines.
Let them present reclamation plan and ensure they keep some funds for this purpose. Do not give them a second chance to explain anything when they are caught abusing the environment because, they get monies that are capable of bribing environmental inspectors. Tax them. Rivers are a no go zone.
To our youth who do the primary “dig and wash” with primary tools [not excavators], give them an area. Rivers are not not! Train them in safety precautions and how to make the best out of their activities.
Mind you, people involve in this venture have enough money to compromise your inspectors, so fine tune your inspectors.
When these things are done, genuine people will stay whilst the bad ones exit. Responsible mining will end rampant abuse of the environment that Ghana has suffered in the past few decades.
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