Fuseini: Honour fallen officers by making responsible mining work

Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Inusah Fuseini, has called on the government to ensure that the new responsible mining project delivers real results and does not become another failed initiative in the fight against illegal mining.

Speaking on Joy News’ Newsfile on Saturday, August 16, Mr Fuseini said the six officers who died in the August 6 helicopter crash were travelling to Obuasi to promote responsible mining, not to clamp down on illegal activity.

“What our fallen heroes were on their way to Obuasi to do was to promote what we call responsible mining. Simply put, responsible mining is understood to mean how to mine for mineral resources without damaging the environment,” he explained.

He described the officers as heroes who had made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the nation. “That is the utmost sacrifice of any public officer, any citizen of this country who elects to serve the country. They sacrificed their lives for the country.”

Mr Fuseini argued that the best way to honour them would be to ensure the success of the programme. “The best tribute in their honour will be to ensure that this is not one of those occasions where political leaders are ticking the box,” he said.

He added that government must demonstrate real commitment to creating a culture of environmentally sound mining practices.

“If the responsible mining activity takes off, and people can see that community mining or cooperative mining can be done in a way that is environmentally honourable, people will now begin to appreciate that those who have refused with impunity and are damaging the environment are the root cause of our problem.”

Mr Fuseini warned that failure would be deeply discouraging. “I will not feel encouraged or enthused. I will feel disappointed. But I don’t think that it will come to that,” he said.