The Director at the Directorate of Research Innovation and Consultancy in the University of Cape Coast, Professor Frederick Ato Armah has called for the strengthening of Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Act in a bid to stop foreign nationals from engaging in illegal artisanal and small scale-scale mining.
He notes that there are loopholes in Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Act thus making it possible for foreigners to exploit it whereby they hide behind Ghanaians who are the only ones with the right to obtain small scale-mining licence, so they have the opportunity to engage in this illegal artisanal and small scale-scale mining.
“Although artisanal mining is reserved for indigenes, the Chinese, Indians, Serbs had entered and consolidated their niche in the artisanal small scale mining sector…People will exploit our laws when there are loopholes in it… There are loopholes in the regulation, it says that only indigenes can do artisanal gold mining so these foreign nationals pay them and register in the name of the Ghanaian individuals but they don’t own it,” he said.
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Professor Ato Armah, a professor of environment and sustainability science at UCC made this clarion call while delivering his inaugural lecture yesterday at UCC.
He however noted that all Ghanaians including politicians must join hands in helping to tackle the wicked problem of illegal artisanal and small scale-scale mining which is still prevalent in the country.
“If we were to take artisanal mining, anybody no matter your research influence can do something about it. Some people can look at it from the historical perspective, others can look at it from the sustainability perspective, and others can also consider some of the manifestations from economic standpoint, environmental standpoint, water resource engineering standpoint.”
While urging academics to be assertive in the fight against the menace, Prof. Ato Armah stressed that politicians have failed to effectively tackle the problem because of the benefits some of them derive from the illegal artisanal and small scale-scale mining.
In referring to politicians, he said “we must understand that the status quo, what is happening now that we complain about if the one who has the power to change it is the one who is benefitting from it, it will not change… We need to be more assertive as academics in this particular endeavour.”
The inaugural lecture which was on the theme, “Restoring Kingship with the Environment: How to Address the Wicked problem of Illegal Artisanal and Small Scale Mining” is the third in the series of professorial inaugural lectures being held by the University of Cape Coast as part of activities to commemorate the university’s 60th Anniversary.
SOURCE: ROSEMOND ASMAH/ATLFMNEWS
