Galamsey ban: We’re disappointed in gov’t – Small-scale miners

Small-scale miners in the country have expressed disappointment with government for failing to lift the ban on small-scale mining in the country.

Government, in January 2017, announced a ban on small-scale mining due to the extent of damage it has done to Ghana’s forests, water bodies and farmlands.

An Inter-Ministerial committee chaired by Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Frimpong Boateng, was instituted to develop a road-map for the lifting of the ban after several calls from the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners to that effect.

However, after over a year-and-a-half of the imposition, the committee, on Thursday, 16 August 2018 presented a road-map for the lifting of the ban without stating the exact date for the announcement.

This has left the miners angry and they have accused government of acting in bad faith.

General Secretary for the Ghana National Association of Small-Scale Miners, Godwin Amarh, who expressed his disappointment, told Newsmen the ban has affected them and their dependents negatively, and want an immediate reversal of government’s stance.

Source: Class fm