The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, has reiterated that Government is not against small scale mining but against illegal mining.
As parts of efforts by Government to sanitize the mining sector, Hon Jinapor disclosed that the Alternative Livelihood Projects (ALPs) is developed to equip people living in mining communities with skills to improve upon their economic lives independent of mining.
According to him, this is also to ensure that mining communities do not become ghost towns even after cessation of mining.
Speaking at a colourful ceremony to mark the lifting of 4 Million Hybrid Oil Palm Seedlings in support of the Green Ghana Project at Atikwatiakwaso in the Eastern Region, the Minister indicated that, the Ministry’s effort of curbing illegal mining also requires that the energies of our young ones who engages in illegal mining are redirected into sustainable livelihoods activities such as oil palm plantations.
The Hon. Minister added that his recent tour to some major river bodies in Ghana including the Brim river in the Eastern Region saw some level of devastated lands destroyed and depleted in Southern Ghana.
He also called on the Chiefs to support the fight against illegal Mining.
The government intends to plant five million trees in a day across the country as a programme under its Green Ghana Project.
The Minister stated that the exercise would commence with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, the Yaa Naa and the Chief Justice, Kwasi Anin Yeboah, planting trees.
He, therefore, called on the support of the Chiefs to participate in the upcoming project on the 11th of June 2021.
” Let’s go planting and let’s go planting 5 Million trees”, he added.
