The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has said the fight against the activities of small scale illegal mining, ‘galamsey’ may take some years to completely eradicate the menace.
“I must admit that we are not out of the woods yet. We have not achieved the desired results yet. Indeed, we do not have a full grip on the issue of illegal small-scale mining in the country yet. It may take some 4 to 10 years to completely nip the menace in the bud.”- Mr. Abu Jinapor
He however added that “Nevertheless, we also have to admit that we have made considerable gains, and we have gotten to a point where we can reasonably be encouraged that the proper framework and the building blocks have been put in place to deal with this age-old menace.”
He, however, stressed that government had made some considerable gains in its anti-galamsey fight.
The lands minister further revealed that government has been able to put in place the necessary reforms to regulate the mining sector.
“I am referring to the process of acquiring license for small-scale mining, a platform for doing so, inspectorate division of the Minerals Commission, among others. Though we have not arrived at the point we seek to reach, we have so far made substantial progress.”- He said
He also assured that government will not relent on its commitment to fight against galamsey.
“We are going to be totally committed, all the measures we have introduced are going to be enhanced this year. We are not going to relent. What has happened in the past is that most of the measures put in place do not stand the test of time, and then there is a resurgence of the menace.”