Rethink lifting galamsey ban

Illegal small-scale mining, popularly referred to as ‘galamsey’, poses serious threats to human life and the environment. In many mining communities in the country, wanton environmental destruction and pollution of water bodies are worrying outcomes of illegal mining.

Beyond the environmental destruction is the revenue loss to the state. This is because gold exports from galamsey fields are not properly accounted for.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, at the media engagement at the Flagstaff House last Wednesday, said about $5 billion   in gold exports from Ghana to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was unaccounted for.

He recalled that the Senior Minister, on an official visit to Dubai in the UAE, received some praise from people who said: “Last year we [UAE] recorded $7 billion worth of gold imports from Ghana.”

But the President stated that “official records are talking about $2 billion. These are the facts”.

“I believe that the fight against galamsey is by no means won. We still have a long way to go… I am saying this because, at the same time, some of the outcomes of the galamsey menace in our country are not sufficiently addressed or articulated,” he said.

For us at the Daily Graphic, while efforts have been made by government agencies, including the security agencies and civil society organisations, to clamp down on illegal mining, the challenges wrought by ‘galamsey’ persist and remain burdensome, sometimes with fatal outcomes.

The media have, over the years, played a very important role in highlighting the issues relating to illegal small-scale mining.
 
On the possible lifting of the ban on small-scale mining, which was extended after first being imposed in April 2017 for three months, President Akufo-Addo said he was yet to meet with advisors to “decide when and if the time is ready for the lifting of the ban. So a decision will not be ready until after that meeting of the Cabinet next week”.

The issue of galamsey operations seems to attract more critical media reviews because of the extent of damage resulting from the highly mechanised nature of modern galamsey operations, the direct result of the influx of foreigners and their introduction of some modern machinery into the operations of small-scale miners.

What used to be simple surface mining by indigenes in mining communities to help improve their livelihoods has been transformed into highly mechanised operations, with more devastating effects on the environment and poor management of the after effects of the operations.

 It is the view of the Daily Graphic that a sustained effort is required for more coverage of the menace until a point when it is totally done away with and the appropriate long-term regulatory and administrative interventions instituted to ensure that our environment, water bodies and export receipts are well protected before legalising small-scale mining.

While we task the security agencies to clamp down on the menace, we also implore the government to speed up the process of finding alternative livelihoods for the galamsey operators. This is the only way to permanently do away with the canker.

We will be happy to see a chunk of our youth in gainful employment and meeting their basic needs, but not at the expense of our water bodies, environment and revenue receipts.