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By Isaac Newton Tetteh
Accra. June 5, GNA – The Young African for Opportunity (YAFO), a policy and research think tank based in Accra, has held its maiden virtual policy dialogue on illegal mining and its associated challenges.
The virtual dialogue was patronized by environmental experts from various parts of the world with the aim of ensuring sustainable reforms were promulgated to control illegal mining, also known as Galamsey in Ghana.
Delivering his keynote address, Dr. Albert Kobbina Mensah, Soil Research Officer at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), said illegal mining has become a significant issue with detrimental impacts on the environment and the general public’s health.
Dr. Mensah stated that gold mining was an activity that took place in most parts of the world, whether formally or informally, stressing that it was imperative for successive governments to put measures and plans in place to curb the rate at which such activities negatively impacted the environment.
He noted that individuals involved in illegal mining did not have the requisite capacity to undertake formalized mining, hence the need to introduce Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) to propel socio-economic benefits and to criticize environmental destruction.
Dr. Mensah opined that ASM, and large-scale mining, were contributing factors to environmental pollution, which include mercury pollution, land pollution, sedimentation of rivers, and deforestation, amongst others.
He called for the need to use modern and sophisticated means to extract minerals from the ground to protect and preserve the natural environment for the existence of humanity.
Mr. Nathaniel Dwamena, YAFO Founder told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that the policy dialogue was to explore other avenues for ensuring the current challenges faced because of illegal mining or Galamsey were dealt with.
He noted that the government must adopt a well-defined approach to ensuring good and appropriate mining practices are encouraged, saying many citizens’ livelihoods
also depended on mining, hence the need to take a comprehensive approach in dealing with the menace.
Mr. Dwamena hinted that the government had employed several policies over the years, including ‘Galamstop’ and ‘Operation Calm Life’, to curb illegal mining, but none of the policies yielded the expected results.
He advised the government to continue to engage stakeholders to find the best and most reliable solution to deal with the challenges of illegal mining to protect and preserve the country’s natural resources for the present and future generations.
GNA
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