Government assures small-scale miners of no victimisation in vetting process

Government has assured small-scale miners in the country that none of them would be victimized in the ongoing vetting process.

According to government, there is going to be transparency in the nationwide vetting of small-scale miners.

The vetting which started on Monday, September 3 is part of activities to regularize the mining activities and as roadmap by the government to lift the ban on small-scale mining in the country.

The Ministry of Information in an earlier statement directed all registered artisanal and small-scale miners whose licenses were operational as at April 1, 2017 to submit all relevant documentation to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) Secretariat by post or in person before Friday, September 7, 2018.

The documents they are expected to present include Mining License, Environmental Permit, Operating Permit, Certificate of Registration, Tax Identification Number, two copies of passport size photos, Birth Certificate, Passport or Voter’s ID and current contact details.

Speaking to Anokye Elvis on Friday, September 7 2018 on this development, the General Secretary of Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM), Charles Bisew stated that it has been successful and he is optimistic that the government will achieve the purpose of sanitizing the country’s mining industry and ensure that persons engaged in the commercial activity do so in a responsible, environmentally-friendly and sustainable manner without victimizing anybody.

To this end, he said, government has extended the deadline of the vetting from Friday, September 7 2018, to Friday 14th September 2018.

“What we are doing is that the deadline which was expected to come off today has been extended for one week to ensure that every miner in the country go through a successful vetting. The whole idea is not to victimize people but to ascertain where we are as a mining country. When we came the system was not working, the previous government collapsed everything but under the Nana Addo led NPP government we want to ensure that the system is well sanitized” he said.

But members of the Concerned Small-scale Miners’ Union of Ghana have said they are unhappy with the committee’s vetting process.

President of the Group, Michael Kwadwo Peprah speaking to the media said: “Government is asking too much documents, we know what the law says about small-scale mining, we know the rules, we know the regulations.

However, Charles Bisew said the committee will do proper monitoring and supervision to fortify that all the agencies deliver their duties without any victimization.