A former Minerals Commission Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Tony Aubynn, says the fight against illegal mining in the last few years has clearly been lost.
“Have water bodies become clean? No. Have people stopped mining without the requisite licenses? No. It has even gone underground,” he remarked on Eyewitness News.
According to Dr. Aubynn, the metrics of success are clear when judging the compliance with the law and the state of the water bodies.
“You define all these things and the answer is obvious. We haven’t succeeded,” the former Minerals Commission’s boss stated.
Dr. Aubynn was on his way out of the Minerals Commission, in 2017, just as the fight against illegal mining was kicking into gear.
But at that time, he was confident that illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey, had stopped in the country following the intense media campaign and government action.
Under him, the government interdicted nine district mining officers of the Minerals Commission who were asked to proceed on indefinite leave, in May 2017.
The nine officers supervised mining activities in nine mining districts and were found to be negligent.
The Lands and Natural resources Minister at the time, John Peter Amewu, said they were negligent, as they allowed illegal mining to continue in their respective areas.
The Minerals Commission Acts as the main promotional and regulatory body for the minerals sector in Ghana and is responsible for the regulation and management of the utilisation of the mineral resources of Ghana and the coordination and implementation of policies relating to mining.
Current threat to water supply
Currently, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has warned that it will be forced to halt the production and supply of water if illegal small scale mining is not stopped.
T Western Regional Chief Manager of GWCL, Francis Agyei-Boateng, said rationing of water around this time each year has become more acute because of illegal mining.
Most of Ghana’s freshwater bodies have been heavily polluted with thousands of acres of fertile farmlands also destroyed as a result of the illegal mining.
Source: citinewsroom.com
