The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah says the ministry is under no illusion that the fight against illegal mining is an easy one – describing it as “a marathon and not a sprint.”
Consequently, he assured that his ministry was on course to achieve its mandate – to ensure the sustainable management and utilisation of the nation’s lands, forests, and wildlife resources, as well as the efficient management of mineral resources for socio-economic growth and development.
“Let me also assure the good people of Ghana that we are steadfast, committed, and focused on winning this fight of our lifetime. And with the political will and support of President Mahama, we will ensure that our water bodies are turned blue, our forests are turned green, and our environment is restored and preserved for posterity,” he stressed.
Mr Buah gave this assurance at the Presidency in Accra yesterday when he addressed reporters at the Government Accountability Series.
To ensure sanity in the mining space, Mr Buah, MP, Ellembele, announced comprehensive legislative and policy overhaul of the Minerals Commission to make it fit for purpose to undertake its mandate.
He said the policy overhaul would correct the imbalances that have plagued the mining sector over the years and secure a brighter future for the benefit of all Ghanaians.
To this end, he said, the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019, is under review with extensive stakeholders engagement to have their buy-in.
“Some significant changes that we are pursuing is one, to drastically reduce the number of years that prospective licenses are held for, from perpetuity to a defined minimal period,” he hinted.
Additionally, he said, the upper limit for a number of years for the grant of a mining lease would be reduced from 30 years to an agreed period, “obviously very reduced years.”
Thirdly, he said, development agreements would be abolished and community development agreements enforced, and impose a rate of an agreed percentage of gross revenue to the sale of minerals to fund community development projects to help fast track the development of mining communities.
“How many times have we not talked about how mining communities are impoverished? These transformational changes will see the accelerated development of our mining communities,” he stated.
A third-tier mineral right regime – medium scale mining – he said would be introduced to better manage the sector.
“As we speak, we have only small-scale and large-scale. We envision the new law to have a medium-scale regime. We’re also working to reduce the upper limit for stability agreements from the current 15 years to allow for capital recovery for huge investments only or abolish it altogether,” the minister mentioned.
On the fight against illegal mining, the minister said 55 small-scale mining licenses issued during the transitional period were revoked at the beginning of the year with additionally, 907 out of 1,278 licenses under review for possible revocation due to irregularities identified by the Small-Scale Mining Review Committee.
“A similar exercise is currently ongoing to review large-scale mining licences to ensure compliance. These measures are aimed at sanitising the mining sector to ensure transparency and sustainable operations.”
A collaborative effort between the security agencies, he said had led to the seizure of 425 excavators and other machinery and 1,345 arrests nationwide, and prosecutions steadily progressing.
The Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance (GRA-Customs Division), and the Ports and Harbours Authority, he said have initiated a proactive tracking of all imports of excavators and earth-moving equipment from the point of entry with 1,200 excavators so far impounded pending validation before clearance at the Tema Port.
To address the challenge of water pollution by illegal mining activities, the minister said the Blue Water initiative, with a target to train 2000 personnel has so far engaged over 980 personnel with focus on de-chemicalising the water bodies to restore them to their pristine conditions.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI