Former President John Dramani Mahama has stated that he will not unleash Operation Vanguard and the Galamstop operation to chase away small scale miners when voted into power in the December election.
According to him its not right to engage in the act but proper structures can be put in place to ensure a strong mining sector.
“we don’t want them dying in pits, and so we need to teach them how to do it safely, and we have the technology. Ghana has some of the most high numbers of trained Geologists and mining safety, because we have a dedicated university. People come from outside to UMaT to come and train and go back to their countries to work in the mining industry. We have them, hundreds of them, let’s employ them and let them work with these young boys and teach them how to do the mining properly,” He said
The government set up the Galamstop to complement the efforts of the Operation Vanguard team in fighting illegal mining popularly known as ‘galamsey’, that rapidly desecrated portions of the country’s rich vegetation cover and polluted water bodies.
The former President stressed that,he will regulate these miners under a future NDC government to ensure that miners do not destroy the environment with their activities.
He added that he is bent on introducing new laws that will strengthen mining activities and ensure more profitability and revenue for national development.
“I think our approach to it has been wrong. Yes, it has resulted in devastation of the environment, but that is not the reason to throw the baby away with the bathwater. And that is why I’m saying that if we regulate it better, we should be able to create a lot of jobs for young people,” he added.
TalkS Africa 