The Lands and Natural Resources Ministry allegedly spent over ¢10 million to organize a nationwide discourse on the government’s war against small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey, according to the Minority in Parliament.
In response to the issues posed by illegal mining to the mining sector, the Ministry held a National Consultative Dialogue on Small-Scale Mining in Accra, Tamale, and Kumasi to gather views, proposals, and suggestions on how to address the threat of ‘galamsey’ in Ghana.
However, Alhassan Suhuyini, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Lands Committee, stated on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday that the budget for the conversation is excessive, accusing the ministry of misappropriation of funds.
The Ministry spent $2,140,000 on the national consultative dialogue in Accra, another 3.7 million on the dialogue in the Northern and Middle Belt, and another 5.4 million on regional tours on illegal mining, according to the Tamale North MP.
“All of these put together Mr. Speaker we are talking about more than ten conferences and dialogue and this is a document from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources during the consideration stage of the 2022 Budget statement. Mr. Speaker ¢10 million just on conferences and dialogue on how to fight Galamsey in this country. How does this impact the fight against Galamsey?” he quizzed.
In a January interview on GBC’s Breakfast Show, Lands and Natural Resources Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor stated it will take more than a decade for Ghana to be free of ‘galamsey.’
“We are not out of the woods yet. We have not gotten to a satisfactory stage yet. We have not gotten to a situation we can say that we have a full grip on the issue of illegal small-scale mining in our country.
“I’ll be the first to admit that it wouldn’t take 4,5, 8 or 10 years to rid our country of illegal scale mining completely,” he said on GBC Breakfast Show.
Mr. Jinapor stated during the interview that, despite the numerous problems posed by illegal small-scale mining, the government has had some success in combating the activity in the country.
“We will also have to admit that we have made considerable gains and we have gotten to a point where we can reasonably be encouraged that a better framework and the building blocks have been put in place to deal with this menace.
“I’m talking about matters to do with how you acquire licenses, whether you do that online, the whole issue of community mining, inspectorate division of the Minerals Commission, issues to do with exploration for mineralized concessions.,” he said.
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SOURCE: myjoyonline
