Hon. Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, Minister for Lands and Natural Resources has said that 20 Community Mining Schemes have begun, and each is employing about three thousand (3,000) persons.
He said it will make a significant impact in addressing unemployment in mining communities as the rise in illegal mining has no doubt, been fueled not only by unemployment, and Each Community Mining Scheme engages 3,000 miners, and with a projected 100 of such schemes by the end of the year, the incidence of galamsey and youth unemployment is expected to be significantly reduced, if not eliminated.
The Minister said this at the opening ceremony of the Ghana Gold Expo 2021 (Ghana Mining Week ’21), a mining policy forum, in Takoradi.
The two-day forum brings together key stakeholders including the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon Samuel Abdulai Jinapor; members of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mining, large and small scale miners, traditional rulers, and members of the Diplomatic Corps to deliberate and chart a sustainable path for Ghana’s gold industry.
The Community Mining Scheme is an initiative meant to encourage responsible small-scale mining, in line with the Minerals and Mining Law, 2015, Act 703, in communities across the country.
Menace wreaked by galamsey across the country has led to the pollution of waters, the degradation of lands, the non-reclamation of degraded land, and the use of dangerous chemicals, such as mercury and cyanide, on the environment.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Kofi Atakora
