Ministry Of Lands and Natural Resource to Implement MMIP to Curb Galamsey

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is set to implement a 5 year project dubbed Multi Sectorial Mining Integrated Project aimed at recruiting most of the youth who are into illegal mining into a very useful venture as means of ending the menace and to provide employment to them as an alternative to the issue of illegal mining.

Speaking to the deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Barbara Oteng Gyasi, she said the initiative is aimed at serving as an alternative to the threat illegal mining poses to the country’s environment, particularly, the Agricultural sector, since it also has negative impacts on our water bodies.

According to her, most of the youth will be recruited into the program as Forestry guards to prevent illegal miners from invading the forest to prevent their activities of illegal mining.

Honourable Barbara Oteng Gyasi said other potential employees will be employed to also help in the reclamation of the degraded lands and afterwards plant trees to make them fertile again for Agricultural and other purposes, which is another opportunity to absorb most of the country’s unemployed youth.

The deputy minister lamented that the president will inaugurate this program before the end of the month after which the implementation continues after several encounters with the stakeholders involved at the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa.

He said the ministry is also employing the galamseyers into a special palm plantation project which equally comes as another alternative to them.

Honourable Oteng Gyasi was emphatic that the ministry was not relenting in its efforts to deal with the threat of galamsey currently bedeviling the agric sector and reiterated his commitment to fight the menace.

President Akuffo Addo during his media encounter on wednesday has confirmed that there are major setbacks in the fight against illegal mining (galamsey) in the country.

According to him, despite the fact that his administration has waged a war against those destroying water bodies and the quality of the forest through Galamsey activities, “the fight isn’t won” yet.

According to the President, there are several measures, tactics and structures that remain to be put in place before the fight could be said to be won.

By Austin Ofori Addo/ritefmonline.org/austinofori.addo@gmail.com