The Ghana Chamber of Mines says government must deploy all strategies to combat the illegal mining menace affecting mining communities.
The President of the Chamber, Johan Ferreira, made the appeal when he led a six-member delegation from the Chamber of Mines to officially pay a courtesy call on the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr. Akwasi Opong-Fosu, in Accra to find ways of establishing partnerships between government and the chamber which will help improve the nation’s mining industry.
The visit was also to afford the chamber and government to work together and attract investments into the country’s mining sector.
Mr. Ferreira explained that government continues to lose significant amounts of tax revenue every year as a result of such illegal mining activities as it is projecting a bad image for the entire mining sector among inhabitants of mining communities and negatively affecting the environment.
“We believe that with responsible mining, we can reduce any impact. Some activities of illegal miners are impacting negatively, and we want to disassociate ourselves from such practices,” he stated.
He indicated the Chamber’s commitment to comply with all national and international laws on mining and assured the minister and government that his outfit will ensure companies engaged in the mining industry commit themselves to sustaining the environment.
Mr. Ferreira said Ghana is endowed with minerals, particularly gold, which ought to be properly harnessed; and promised that his outfit will support the Ministry to help address some of the environmental challenges facing the mining sector.
“The mining sector is a big sector that contributes about 68 percent of the country’s revenue, although the menace of illegal mining has given a wrong image of the sector.
“The Chamber of Mines is passionate about the environment and it will ensure mining companies comply with the rules and regulations in the country, which is the best practice anywhere in the world to protect the ecology.”
He commended the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the introduction of the ‘Akoben’ System that seeks to bring some level of sanity into the environment sector, adding: “Over the past five years some of the mining companies have been doing well as a result of the checking system.”
The First Vice President of the Chamber, Kwame Addo-Kufour, observed that illegal mining is a threat not only to government and the Chamber of Mines, but everyone in the country.
He called for a collaborative effort from all stakeholders to arrest illegal miners.
The second vice president of the Chamber, Alfred Baku, disclosed that most companies within the industry are struggling to sustain their operations.
Mr. Opong-Fosu said that government is ready and prepared to work with the Chamber of ensure the country attracts maximum investment into the mining sector.
“Some of the issues will involve chiefs and stakeholders on the way forward, which will raise awareness,” he remarked.