The Member of Parliament for Tarkwa-Nsuaem and Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, has kicked against the ban on all small-scale mining operations, labelling them as misdirected.
The coordinator of the Bawumia campaign in mining communities emphasized that banning small-scale mining would be a misplaced priority.
He stressed during the commissioning of the Meretweso Community Mining Scheme in the Upper Denkyira East Municipality of the Central Region.
“It is misdirected because I was expecting them to have condemned the statement made by his excellency the former President Mahama before even calling for this action because you can’t just in a way out of the blue you just say put a ban. Ban on what.
“What are the metrics, what have you done. What analysis have you done. The statement President Mahama made was unfortunate so why didn’t they in a way ask him to apologise”.
Mr. Duker, however, condemned the destruction of major water bodies and the environment by activities of illegal miners, emphasising that the government will continue to promote responsible mining operations.
He emphasized that the government remains committed to ending illegal mining activities and called for concerted efforts to address the situation.
He also indicated that the government will soon deploy river guards to protect the river bodies.
“Secondly, yes people are destroying our waterbodies there are measures we need to take to clamp down recalcitrants who are destroying our waterbodies, and I agree with them perfectly…But I am against it.
“I’m against the call for the ban on mining generally. You can’t ban mining. Why must you ban mining,” he stated.
Professional bodies like the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and other unions are yet to respond to this controversial remark by the Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources.
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Agribusiness, UTAG, and other bodies have indicated that if the government does not declare a state of emergency to find a lasting solution to illegal mining in Ghana, they will protest till any action is taken.
The intense call to ban illegal mining commonly known as galamsey follows the caution by the Ghana Water Company and the Paediatric Society of Ghana, indicating the country is on the brink of a water importation crisis if the illegal mining activities are not immediately banned.