By Nicholas Osei Wusu
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, says the Minerals Commission, in particular, and the Amansie South District Chief Executive, must answer for the invasion of illegal gold mining operators at Datano in the Amansie South district of the Ashanti region.
According to the Minister, considering the nature and level of the destruction caused to water bodies and natural vegetation, coupled with the observation that illegal mining must have been taking place for some years now without any intervention, the Minerals Commission and the DCE cannot claim to be unaware of the presence of unauthorised mining activities in their jurisdictions.
Mr. Jinapor said this in Kumasi during a meeting with government functionaries from mining municipalities and districts in Ghana.
The meeting was at the instance of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources as a precursor to another meeting by President Akufo-Addo very soon to discuss the issue of illegal gold mining or ‘galamsey’ menace.
This meeting was attended by some Regional Ministers, Municipal and District Chief Executives from mining areas in the country who are also the Chairmen of their respective administrative areas.
It was for the Ministry to discuss the unauthorised gold mining challenges identified to be a major cause of water bodies, forests, cocoa farms and arable lands and to get the participants to re-commit themselves to the renewed national fight against the canker.
Also present at the meeting were the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, his two deputies, and the Deputy Minister for Information, Madam Fatimatu Abubakar.
The meeting came immediately after the Minister and the Deputy Ministers extensive tour of destroyed land and water bodies at Datano in the Amansie South district in the Ashanti region.
Mr. Abu Jinapor expressed shock at the level of the illegal gold mining operations at the site and the extent of the destruction caused by the miners.
The Minister observed that the mining operations at Datano could not have been done overnight. Hence, the Amansie South DCE and the Minerals Commission cannot feign ignorance of their presence there. Hence, the Minerals Commission, in particular, has questions to answer later.
He questioned, “As a matter of fact, the number of hectares that have been mined out tells me that this operation did not begin a year or two or three ago. Given the extent of that operation, I can’t just be convinced that the chief of the area would not be aware of such a massive operation taking place.
It’s huge and looks like a township. So is that I cannot believe the Minerals Commission with a district office in the area and this is never flagged, so I’ll be expecting my Minerals Commission CEO to be giving me answers very soon. I’m not suggesting in any way that this would be done in connivance with officials, these stakeholders, or actors.”
The Minister told the participants that, as Chairpersons of their District Committees in their respective jurisdictions, they have a duty to ensure that the fight against ‘galamsey’ does not fail since any such tendencies would mean crime cannot be fought.
“When there is a breakdown in respect of mining, it is as well a breakdown in law enforcement in respect of crime, in respect of water pollution, in respect of fisheries, in respect of armed robbery, in respect of all the crimes you deal with on a daily basis,” he noted.
Mr. Abu Jinapor called for the cooperation and support of every Ghanaian, including chiefs and traditional leaders, to enable the government to triumph over the ‘illegal’ mining business for the general good of all.