The Center for Social Impact Studies wants the government to strictly enforce the Polluter Pay Policy in the Mining Act.
The policy ensures that miners deposit some amount of money into the government chest to be used subsequently to reclaim degraded lands.
Speaking to Citi News, Executive Director of the Center, Richard Elimah, said the current practice by mining firms indicates that the government may have relaxed the Polluter Pay Policy.
“There’s already a law and policy on it. If you get the permit to mine, one of the key conditionality of your permit is to reclaim the land that you’re going to destroy as a result of mining. Due to that, you post a reclamation bond with the government and the thinking behind that bond is that when you leave unceremoniously, the government can then use the bond to reclaim the land,” he said.
He added that “it is two things; either the government is not using the bonds that the companies post to reclaim the land or the companies have not been paying and the government has been doing nothing about it. The government needs to be serious about companies posting the bond because it is our only surest way of getting resources to reclaim the land.”
The government had held a two-day national consultative dialogue on small-scale mining with the aim of developing a roadmap in curbing illegal mining in the country.
Among the actions taken included the suspension of prospecting in forest reserves.
Also, the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners has called on the government to punish illegal miners operating in forest reserves.
The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners, Godwin Amarh mounted a strong defence for stiffer sanctions against errant miners.
He proposed that “those who are doing it illegally should be forced to reclaim the places that they have degraded. If you have degraded an area and the Minister says they should move their equipment out, who is going to reclaim those places.”
The government has defended its decision to suspend prospecting in the forest reserve.
The Mining Advisor to the Lands and Natural Resource Minister Ben Aryee explained that the authorities want to be sure of those “who are operating inappropriately in our job and those operating legitimately. That’s why it is a suspension but not a complete ban but a suspension. Those who are operating legitimately will be allowed to go back to continue their operation.”