Do not pressure government to ban all mining activities – Small-scale miners plead with Ghanaians
Calls for the ban on all mining activities have left the Ghana Association of Small-Scale Miners arguing that other approaches rather need to be exploited.
Mr Godwin Armah, General Secretary of the Association justified the group’s position by stating that such a move is not going to yield the desired results.
“It is not going to work, and it is not going to bring the solutions that we want,” he stated.
Calls for the ban of all forms of mining have become so rife given its negative impact on the country’s environment with the latest advocate for such a move being the Media Coalition Against Galamsey.
But Mr Armah insists that they are currently in touch with the government to explore some possible solutions to bring this canker to end or its barest minimum.
He argued that patience is required in this fight as the results will not be seen in a day as they are liaising with the government on how to restore the river bodies that have suffered the ravaging effects of illegal mining.
Also, he opined that the citizenry needs to consider jobs at stake if they advocate for a ban on all forms of mining.
“It is employing over one million people who also have dependents. Yes, we appreciate that there are challenges, but there should be a balance.”
This attempt by the government to halt all mining activities in 2017, unfortunately, did not yield the desired results as its impact on the environment was not felt hence its lifting in 2018.
