Small scale miners unhappy about longevity of ban

The Public Relation Officer of the small scale mining association Francis Poku says the decision of the President to lift the ban on small scale mining has come as a mixed feelings to the association.

According to him, the decision is laudable, however, the ban on the mining activities lasted for too long and has caused a lot of harm to the members involved. 

In an interview on GBC’s Uniiq FM Break Fast Drive, Mr. Poku said government did not treat the association fairly. He argued that, “members of the association struggled to get licenses so their expectation was that, the ban would last for six months or at most a year but government did not consider their plea.”

Mr. Poku continued that, “members of the association invested a lot of money in the mining activities which have been lost during the ban. Therefore it would be difficult for some of them to return to the site, he lamented”.  However, the association has welcomed the news and promise not to allow their activities to have negative impacts on society, he added. 

This reaction follows the announcement made by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo to lift the ban on small scale mining activity, “Galamsey”. 

The ban was imposed on the activity during the early months of 2017 through several calls made on government by well – meaning Ghanaians and the media to save the forest and waterbodies. 

Story By: Gifty Tracy Aminu
GBCONLINE
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