Chamber calls for action against illegal miners

The Ghana Chamber of Mines has appealed to the government of Ghana to combat illegal mining, popularly known as ‘galamsey’ across the country.

The President of the Chamber, Johan Ferreira made the appeal on Tuesday in Accra when senior officials of the chamber paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Environment, Technology, Science and Innovation, Akwasi Oppong-Fosu at his ministry to officially congratulate him on his appointment as the sector minister and to find ways of establishing partnership between the government and chamber that will help improve the nation’s mining industry.

The visit was also to see how best the chamber and government could work together to attract investments into the country’s mining sector.

According to him, government continues to lose a significant amount of tax revenue every year as a result of such illegal mining activities.

He noted that ‘galamsey’ was negatively affecting the environment.

This, he said, was projecting a bad image for the entire mining sector mostly among inhabitants of mining communities.

“We believe that with responsible mining, we can reduce any impact. Some activities of illegal miners are negatively impacting, and we want to disassociate ourselves from such practices,” he stated.

He reiterated the Chamber’s commitment to comply with all national and international laws on mining and assured the minister and the government that his outfit will ensure that companies engaged in the mining industry commit themselves to sustaining the environment.

The First Vice President of the Chamber, Kwame Addo-Kufour, in a statement, observed that illegal mining was a threat not only to government and the chamber of mines but everyone in the country.

He called for a collaborative effort from all stakeholders to arrest illegal miners.

The second vice president of the Chamber, Alfred Baku disclosed that most companies within the industry were struggling to sustain their operations.