Review mining laws - Stakeholders demand

Stakeholders in the mining sector have indicated the 10 percent allocation from mining royalties paid to stool lands and mining communities is inadequate to address problems in such communities, considering the damage mining causes to mining areas.

According to them, most mining communities lack social amenities like good roads, potable water, health care facilities and jobs for the youth.

During a day’s Resource Nationalism Forum recently held in Accra, the stakeholders called for a review of the mining laws to ensure that adequate mining royalties were allocated to develop mining communities.

Currently, 90 per cent of all mining royalties go into the country’s consolidated fund while the remaining 10 percent is shared among stool lands and communities.

Kofi Bentil, Vice-President of Imani Ghana, said without a change in the mining laws it would be difficult for mining royalties to be shared and channeled into the mining communities for development.

He urged chiefs to lobby through their Members of Parliament (MPs) for change in the mining laws.

David Assumeng, Member of Parliament for Shai Osudoku and Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Works and Housing, admitted that something must be done about the mining laws.

However, he said the MPs cannot do anything about it unless a private citizen or civil society group moves for the laws to be changed.

The Resource Nationalism Forum, organized by the Ghana Chamber of Mines, brought together policy makers, natural resource experts, representatives of civil society organizations, regulatory bodies, Government officials and Members of Parliament to discuss issues on resource nationalism.