Mr Samuel A. Jinapor, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, has called for support from all and sundry in the fight against illegal mining saying that the “fight against galamsey is not going to be an event but a process” that will be won eventually.
In a telephone interview with some media outlets in Kumasi, yesterday Mr Jinapor said government’s efforts and measures to bring an end to galamsey would continue unabated, taking on board the various ideas and suggestions from the general public.
“Operation Halt II is in session with soldiers all over the country, and we are also working earnestly to bring up reforms in the mining sector and this fight is not going to be an event, it has to be a process and we need the support of all and sundry”
He, however, dismissed the idea for illegal miners to be shot and killed on site, stressing that “We are a country of due process and the rule of law must prevail so, no, we cannot do that, it will be against the laws of human rights.”
He, however, warned that nonetheless, government would continue to enforce the law to ensure that those who were still engaged in illegalities of any sort were brought to book.
The Lands Minister reiterated a number of measures that government had instituted to nip the menace in the bud, citing Operation Halt II, Community Mining Scheme, the involvement of chiefs, Regional Security Council (RECSECs) and the Metropolitan Municipal District Assemblies, (MMDAs) as examples.
Confident about the measures of the government to fight illegal mining, the Minister said, that, if all these interventions, which were geared towards the resolution of the menace were followed through, galamsey would soon be an issue of the past.
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