The Small Scale Miners Association of Ghana has challenged the present methodology and implementation of the community mining concept.
According to the Association, the current administration’s implementation of the community mining initiative is unsustainable and may suffer if a new government takes control.
The Association’s General Secretary, Michael Kojo Peprah, regretted that the initiative had been politicised.
Community Mining is a programme introduced by the government of Ghana with the objective of formalizing illegal mining activities (galamsey) in selected communities across the country.
The government had explained the scheme will help sanitise the extractive industry and pave the way regulated, responsible, and sustainable community mining.
The scheme is also intended to provide livelihoods for members of the mining communities, promote sustainable and responsible mining, and therefore prevent illegal mining.
But, Mr. Kojo Peprah says the objective for which the scheme was designed has not been achieved.
He said the communities where the scheme is being implemented should be the beneficiary owners, not individuals.
‘’The initiative is community mining, and so the community where the project is being implemented ought to be the beneficiary owner and not individuals. I have strongly made this point anywhere I get the opportunity to speak. Individuals are now engaging in community mining activities. How can an individual claim to be involved in community mining? If you are a small-scale miner, that is different, but for community mining, ownership should be in the hands of the community.
The other point I want to also point out is that a chief cannot lay claim to community mining because it is for the community, and so it is proper to appoint trustees to hold it in the trust of the community. The situation whereby we give individuals the license to operate community mining as limited liability companies defeats the purpose for which the scheme was designed. There are challenges with the current state of implementation, and if we fail to address them, we will have a situation where the scheme is scrapped under a new government since those behind it would be perceived as political figures.
I remember a government initiative to involve youth in mining, but we no longer hear of it. If we want to sustain the policy, then we have to design the policy properly. The ownership should be for the community so that successive governments don’t easily scrap it,’’ he said in a recent interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5 FM.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
