We talk too much in opposition but do little. I have a different approach, but I am just a simple village boy.
Instead of all the media hype about stopping galamsey, the most realistic option is to transition them to legal small-scale mining.
This would include cooperatives and setting aside areas for mining, reclamation, and tree planting. We should ban heavy equipment involvement in those areas, and such should not include water bodies.
We must engage them and then police the water bodies and forest reserves. This would include training for the cooperatives and the elimination of the use of mercury and other dangerous chemicals.
The Minerals Commission and our relevant tertiary institutions should lead the development of new methodologies, learning from best practices from other jurisdictions.
We must recognize that artisanal mining has been in this country for over five hundred years. We must begin to think outside the box. We have blurred the boundaries between legal small-scale mining and illegal mining.
We seriously have to engage by encouraging and registering small-scale mining cooperatives and provide them with the requisite training and guidance while increasing our policing of water bodies.
We must mainstream small-scale mining into the political economy. We must recognize the contribution of the small-scale sector in our gold economy.
I would call for a national dialogue on small-scale mining to build a consensus on its role, regulation, rehabilitation, technical improvement, tree planting, and welfare of miners and mining communities.
Without a rethink, we are unconsciously creating extortion rackets in the security and intelligence services while undermining both resource and economic sustainability.
Kwabena Donkor Ph.D
Former MP, Pru East
