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He said such a plan "is a waste of time. It is not the answer to the problem."
IMCIM assessed all mining regions during a nationwide tour and formed the District Committee on Illegal Mining.
A total of 144 drone pilots from the Nation's Builders Corps, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng disclosed, were trained for the DCIMs; 10 for the IMCIM, 18 for Operation Vanguard and 15 for the Minerals Commission.
These drones are highly advanced in their features and functions, with some having the capability of special night vision.
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Casely-Hayford speaking on Accra-based Citi FM said the use of drones to fight illegal galamsey is a waste of time.
"I think that we have not sat down to critically decide how we want to resolve this problem [of illegal mining]," he said.
He stated that whatever plan the government came up with must focus "on guaranteeing the cleanliness of the water bodies."
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"As to how somebody the ground and gets it, give them the regulations. If you dig and don’t find any gold or dig up as much gold as you want, leave the place in the condition you found it."
Galamsey software
A software has been created to help tackle the menace.
The software, known as GalamSTOP, would integrate data from the various stakeholder agencies such as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Minerals Commission, WRC and district assemblies.
The GalamSTOP software will monitor the lifecycle of mining and related licenses in the small-scale mining sector.
The software will also help DCIMs with their weekly reports to IMCIM to tackle illegal mining in the districts.