Some chiefs in the Upper West Region have declared their full commitment and support for the inter-ministerial committee on illegal mining, to end illegal mining in the area.
The chiefs made the commitment at separate durbars when the Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Kwesi Dzamesi led the committee on a 3-day working visit to mining communities in the region.
[contextly_sidebar id=”ESp3uXsS9xxT4g6Se7pGhW6GTPxauZYf”]The Paramount Chief of the Takpo traditional area, Naa Widaana Nanga II, showering praises on president Nana Addo for banning illegal mining in the country, said “illegal mining has already done enough harm to the Upper west region.
” Our water bodies are being polluted. Our rivers are now like mud pools. And these are the main sources of water serving our people. As we speak, the black Volta, which is the main water body to the Jambusi water project is under threat and so we are fully behind you in your efforts to stop illegal mining”.
The secretary of the inter-ministerial committee on mining, Charles Bissue, said that government has successfully trained a total of 3000 illegal miners on safe mining under the Community Mining Scheme.
The number according to him, is the first face of a nationwide free training programme initiated by the New Patriotic Party government to train and properly integrate unlicensed gold miners into the mining sector.
“The president has directed that all our brothers who are doing illegal mining should be brought together under the community mining Scheme, legalize them and give them concessions to mine. The president did not stop there, he said let’s send them to the Takwa school of mines to learn how to mind responsibly so that the country will benefit from it. So far we have trained 3000 Ghanaians in Takwa.”
He further indicated that “in December, we are training a lot more people. Even your transportation cost and all other expenses will be taken care of”, adding that government will offer a free insurance package for all beneficiaries upon completion.
The secretary admonished residents in the Upper West Region who are interested in small scale mining to take advantage and register under the training programme so as not to be left out when the ban on small scale mining is lifted.
The Minister for Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Kwesi Dzamesi explained that they were in the region to engage various stakeholders on the effects of illegal mining and the need to stop it.
“We are not here to arrest anybody,we are here to look at the problems of illegal mining and to see how best we can solve them so that when we are drawing the road map, we can input the concerns of this region”.
He assured that the new mining regime will effectively address the concerns of chiefs and land owners in the country.
The 3 day working visit took the inter ministerial committee to some illegal mining communities in the Nadowli-Kaleo, Wa West and Wa East districts of the Upper west region.
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By:Mahama Latif/citinewsroom.com/Ghana