The Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners (GNASSM) has called for a review of the community mining policy.
The association wants a situation where institutions and stakeholders in the small scale mining sector are handed free regulatory mandate devoid of politicisation to give credence to the President’s call for the depoliticisation of small scale mining in his inaugural address.
The Ashanti District office of the GNASSM says the community mining concept is the brainchild of the association, stressing that the Association introduced the concept which has eventually been hijacked by party members.
A statement issued in Kumasi and signed by the Kumasi District Secretary of the association, Mr. Michael Adu Gyamfi, on Monday, revealed that the community mining model, which was introduced to the government and further implemented on party lines, was the brainchild of GNASSM.
The association believes most of the land allocated for community mining by the government ended up in the hands of party supporters, leaving its members to continue to struggle due to undue politicisation of the concept.
According to the district GNASSM scribe, the government sidelined the association and other major stakeholders in the implementation.
The association alleged that issuing of a license for community mining was done from the Office of the President, and that ministers and metropolitan, municipal, and district chief executives were responsible for monitoring and supervision, creating room for party supporters to influence and abuse the concept.
“Such [a] development accounted for [the] rise in forest encroachment and other infractions,” Adu Gyamfi argued.
Following the current development, GNASSM has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo to come clean and declare lands allocated for community mining since the introduction of the concept.
The post GNASSM calls for review of community mining concept appeared first on The Chronicle Online.
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