Members of the Progressive Small Scale Miners Association of Ghana (PSSAG) have commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. John Peter Amewu, for the holistic approach taken in the fight against unregulated small scale mining activities in the country.
In a statement signed and issued by the leadership of PSSAG and copied to Today in Accra yesterday, the group opined that the ban on small scale mining activities will go a long way to protect the cherished heritage and deepen the relationship that exist between human resources and natural resources.
“Even though sanctioning the moratorium on the operations of general small scale mining activities in Ghana has brought untold hardship on us and most Ghanaians in the areas where the small scale mining are based, it is practically our hope that the vision that our President has will go a long way in vindicating the measures that have been rolled out to propel the future of the small scale mining industry,” the statement noted.
On macroeconomic indicators, according to the statement, tax and royalties inflows from the small scale mining industry have previously not been transparently reported.
This, the group indicated, has affected successive governments in terms of revenue generation.
The statement attested to the fact how some small scale mining activities were undercutting the viability of legal mining, such as encroachment of large scale mining concessions.
According to the statement, the moratorium has generally weaned “us off from our core mandated family responsibilities and also a burden of higher bank interest charges on loans we secured for our businesses.”
“We are not perturbed, we believe in our President of the Republic of Ghana and the sector Minister and hope that very soon, the launched Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP) will transparently and technically address the regulatory framework of the future of small scale mining of our dear country,” the statement said.
The statement hoped that the arranged measures by the ministry of lands and natural resources to regulate the small scale mining sector and also bridge the gap between medium and small scale mining will forestall the harmony and cohesion the miners have been anticipating in the sector.
The statement therefore urged the minister to come up with measures to address the fortunes of investments they have made in the sector and the teeming unemployed youth that are largely lying idle and for that matter increasing robbery rates.
It further called on the government to address the pressure on it in terms of provision of jobs; technically the challenge of tax evasion in the small scale mining sector.
According to the statement, notwithstanding the pending extension of the ban, they will comply with the orders of the sector and the government as a whole to effectively ensure that the government achieves its set targets.
The miners in the statement also indicated their commitment to continue to render technical support through consultants and mining engineers for a befitting mining regime.
They assured government of their total commitment and support to all directives that will be applied.
<<Print>>