The government has been asked not to rush to lift the ban on small scale mining.
It should make sure that adequate measures were in place to protect the environment – stop the destruction of the water bodies, forests and farmlands before doing that.
Mr. Abass Ibrahim Moro, the Industrial Relations Officer of the Greater Accra Regional Secretariat of the Ghana Road Transport Union (GPRTU), made the call through the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
This comes amid indications by the government that the ban could soon be ending.
He said the activities of the small scale miners needed to be streamlined to conform to globally-accepted environmental safety standards.
He expressed strong support of the GPRTU for the government’s efforts to reclaim mined out lands and safeguard the environment.
Mr. Moro said “I don’t think the negative impact of illegal mining on the environment which necessitated the ban had been successfully dealt with”.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo recently served notice of government’s intention to lift the ban on small-scale mining within the framework of a comprehensive roadmap to restore sanity to the sector.
Opening a two-day sensitisation workshop on the elimination of illegal mining in Ghana for traditional and religious leaders, he said the temporary ban on ‘galamsey’ was supposed to be a measure to streamline the small-scale mining sector.
He gave the indication that the government would soon make a clear statement setting out a comprehensive roadmap to include the lifting of the ban to deal with the ‘galamsey’ menace on a permanent basis.
The roadmap would address among other issues, reforestation and reclamation of destroyed lands, restoration of water bodies, strict supervision of the processes of awarding mining licenses and associated permits and the establishment of a mercury pollution abatement project.
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