The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Alhaji Yusif Sulemana, has advocated for mandatory reclamation bonds and the deployment of more district-level engineers to strengthen mining regulation and environmental protection.
Speaking in Parliament on the Public Accounts Committee’s report regarding the Auditor-General’s follow-up audits on small-scale mining, sports stadia sustainability, and GETFund scholarships, the Deputy Minister revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Minerals Commission have fully executed 29 recommendations, with a further 25 already implemented.
He noted that whilst the government is actively recruiting both permanent and contract EPA staff to boost district numbers, funding remains a major hurdle.
“Whilst we are looking for engineers to go and do this work at the district levels it is quite expensive… it is the chicken and egg situation,” he said. “The monies are not there for you to be able to employ more hands so that they can bring you the revenue.”
To address local oversight, community mining committees are now being established and made operational across all mining districts.
The Deputy Minister expressed deep concern over the environmental degradation caused by operators who evade land restoration duties due to a lack of financial guarantees.
“Many people get licenses to go and mine and they don’t sign any reclamation bond… when they succeed in destroying the environment and they run away there’s nothing for you to use to reclaim the lands,” he stated.
To resolve this, he urged stakeholders to back a policy making reclamation bonds a compulsory condition for all licence holders.
Additionally, the government plans to present a bill to amend Act 703, aiming to modernise mining laws, expedite the licensing process, and enhance the sector’s environmental responsiveness.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana