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Help us stop galamsey - Chamber of Mines

The Chamber noted that those who engage in illegal mining could not get access to the land if landlords and traditional authorities refuse to grant them.

 

The Ghana Chamber of Mines, has called for collective efforts to stop illegal mining in the country.

The Director of Public Affairs and Communication of the Chamber, Mr Ahmed D. Nantogmah made the appeal at a media encounter in the Eastern Region in Koforidua.

He explained that, the foreign nationals who come to Ghana to undertake illegal mining are invited by Ghanaians who lead them to the illegal mining sites and their presence might not be known to the law enforcement agencies.

According to him, those who engage in illegal mining could not get access to the land if landlords and traditional authorities refuse to grant them.

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He explained that, the argument that illegal mining provide employment for the unemployed is unacceptable because people should not be allowed to gain employment at the disadvantage of others sometimes to the threat of the lives of others.

Mr Nantogmah called for people interested in small scale mining to be motivated to apply for license to practice responsibly.

He called for a second look at the local content law to make it obligatory for citizens who win contracts to ensure that, their supplies are products manufactured in Ghana to ensure most of the money involved stay in the country.

The Public Affairs Director argued that, such a policy could promote the establishment of import substitution companies in the country, reduce the demand for foreign currency and support the stability of the Ghanaian currency, create employment in the country.

He said there are a lot of supplies for the mining industry, which are currently imported, but could be produced locally and cited the case of activated carbon which is manufactured from the fibre of the coconut.

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Mr Nantogmah called for an increase in the percentage of the mining royalties paid to local communities from 10 per cent to about 30 per cent and should be directed at the provision of infrastructural development projects for mining communities to appreciate the direct contribution of mining to the development of their communities.

Source: GNA

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