Dr. Nana Otuo Siriboe II, Chairman of the Council of State, has called for a review of Ghana’s mining license system in order to clean the industry.
Dr. Nana Otuo Siriboe II said on Saturday, July 24, at the conclusion of a three-day familiarization trip to the Western Region by the Council to equip members with the realities on the ground in order to properly advise the president, that they are dissatisfied with what they saw.
“We have not been very happy ourselves with the licensing regime and we have engaged the Minister for Lands [and Natural Resources] when the minister was with us the first time before they started the [Galam halt] operation.”
The trip brought them to Takoradi’s operating headquarters of the Ghana National Petroleum Authority (GNPC), the Volta River Authority’s Aboadze Power Enclave in the Shama District, the Atuabo Gas Plant in Atuabo, and a galamsey site at Teleku-Bokazo in the Ellembelle District.
Following a visit to the galamsey sites, Dr. Nana Otuo Siriboe II, the Paramount Chief of Juaben Traditional Area, called for a complete rethinking of the licensing system and the participation of local people.
“For example, how can someone get a Mining License before an EPA License? We’re putting the wagon ahead of the horse.
“If he elects not to go to the EPA, he can go ahead and destroy the environment. So we have to take a look at the whole gamut of the registration regime and the milieu.”
If the canker can be treated holistically, he thinks there should be other livelihood initiatives for illegal miners, like farming.
“You know lives have been lost. People have been making a living out of galamsey and when you remove them from here without any means of livelihood, you are creating immediate social problems.
“This area, for example, if the area is reclaimed, it can be used to plant vegetables. There are hotels in Takoradi, Atuabo and all around, if you grow lettuce here, you are good to go so. We should be thinking through, and these are some of the issues that will be engaging our attention when we go back,” he stated.
Dr. Nana Otuo Siriboe II also advocated for the participation of local people in helping to clean up the mining industry.
“From what we have learned from the site, if the locals are involved in the whole process of granting, monitoring, and subsequent assessments, maybe we can get far.”
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SOURCE: ATLFM ONLINE
