support small scale miners with mining equipment-assembly man
Assemblyman for Ntiribuoho electoral area Hon John Arthur a.k.a “Kwaku Galamsey” has called on the minerals commission of Ghana and for that matter government to assist locals engaged in legal small scale mining with earth moving equipment plus other machinery needed for the smooth operations of their business(small scale mining) after the lifting of the long imposed ban.
According to him, it will reduce to the barest minimum their over reliance on foreign nationals especially Chinese for mining machines.
This he underscored has given foreigners a financial advantage over government of Ghana since all monies earned by them through the sale of their equipment are sent back to their countries.
Government he advised should instead import mining machines and offer them to local players on rental basis.
Speaking exclusively to THE PRESS RADIO, Hon John Arthur who is well versed in small scale mining underlined the forgoing as a strategic step that will generate revenue for the country, adding that government should also consider offering soft capital to players which will be payed back within an agreed period.
He continued that satellite markets (gold buying centers) should be set up by government in all the mining districts so that government will directly purchase gold from players as done in the case of cocoa.
Touching on the delay on the part of government in the lifting of the ban, he challenged that it high time Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng who is the Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee of Small-Scale Mining (ICSM) teamed up solidly with officials of Minerals Commission so that they will support him with all the needed information necessary to speed up processes that will lead to the lifting of the ban.
He defended that workers at the office of Ghana Minerals Commission are well versed in matters relating to mining and should therefore be offered a broader role to handle issues on small scale mining. With their technical knowledge, every challenge delaying the lifting of the ban with immediate effect according to him will be eliminated. Government he again advised should involve small scale mining professionals so that they too will bring on board their knowledge and experience.
Hon John Arthur believes that through the application of the foregoing, it will speed up the regularization process and produce cost-effective and quality results to end the undecipherable postponements of the ban lift.
Source: thepressradio.com/ Enock Akonnor
