Miners urge Minerals Commission to address mining challenges

Artisanal and Small Scale Mining – Africa Network (ASMAN), a non-governmental organisation, has called on the Mineral’s Commission to show commitment in tackling challenges facing management of the small-scale mining sector.

Nii Adjetey-Kofi Mensah, Executive Director of ASMAN, said they had observed with grave concern the downwards trends of the profile level of services for small scale mining with the Minerals Commission during the last decade.

“ASMAN therefore calls on government to streamline the structure affecting the paradigm shift in the mentality and mindset regarding characterization of the small scale mining sector,” Nii Adjetey-kofi said in statement copied to the GNA on Thursday.

He said the mindset and debate should focus more on small scale mining as a wealth-creation sector rather than one that is ordinarily linked to a poverty-driven activity.

The promulgation of the small-scale gold mining law, 1989 (PNDC Law 218) gave birth to the legalization of the small scale mining sector and a small scale mining project was instituted with a director at the helm of small-scale mining project management at the minerals commission.

However, Nii Adjetey-Kofi expressed unhappiness that after 25 years instead of celebrating the line of establishment, there is cause for concern.

“The hierarchy of the small-scale mining project has gradually been reduced with the leadership position of the director becoming an assistance manager…the consequences of this reduction in hierarchy is that it has increased the bureaucracy in dealing with small scale mining issues,” he added.

He also called for accurate and reliable baseline data on the population in the sector, adding, “It is a common knowledge that data in this sector is not current, and even the World Bank data on the small-scale mining population in Ghana is obsolete, thus affecting accuracy in planning and development”.

Nii Adjetey-Kofi said the rampant influx of mechanization in the sector is devastating with a telling effect on the environment.

He called for the reclassification of the category of miners in terms of policies and regulations to make clear the distinction between ASMAN and medium-scale mining with its antecedent environmental impact assessment and tax obligations.