The Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners (GNASSM) has expressed outrage about the refusal of government to lift the ban imposed on small scale mining.
The government’s action, the group posited betrays the earlier promises made to them by the Nana Addo government before the 2016 elections.
According to the group, even after the 2016 elections government promised to streamline the activities of small scale miners so as to shut the illegal groups out of the system.
Addressing a press conference in Kumasi, Godwin Armah, Secretary of the GNASSM asked government to fulfill its promise to lift the ban on small scale mining now.
CONCERNS:
According to Mr Armah, due to the ban many of the group members have suffered severely since their livelihoods came from the small scale mining activity.
Others have had their businesses collapsed due to the lengthy nature of the ban on their legitimate activities, the Secretary noted.
The secretary wondered why government had lump them together with those who engaged in illegal mining which is popularly termed ‘galamsey’.
The galamsey operators, Mr Armah noted destroyed arable lands and water bodies but insisted small scale miners apart from the royalties they paid also did many monumental social responsibility projects for the communities they mined.
RESOLVE:
In chat with this reporter, the group secretary noted the decision by its members to patiently wait for the outcome of the scheduled meeting between them and the Lands and Natural Resources Minister this friday.
According to him, the outcome of the meeting will determine the next line of action the Association will take to get their concerns addressed.
For now, the Secretary stressed the resolve of the group to give the benefit of the doubt to the government on the exact time they intend lifting the ban.
He, however, wondered why the government seems to be shifting the timetable of the ban anytime the date it promised to lift it came close.