The Member of Parliament (MP) for Manso Nkwanta, Mr Joseph Albert Quarm, wants the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to go beyond placing a moratorium on the issuance of new mining licences and revoke all prospecting mining licences.
“We will be making a mistake if we target only the small-scale miners. The big fish are there and you can find them in the large mining companies which are misusing their prospecting licences by ceding part of their concessions to illegal miners, including Chinese, in a bid to evade taxes,” he said.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra last Wednesday, the MP suggested that the revocation of the licences should be followed by an audit of work done by prospecting companies to bring those who were misusing their licences to book.
“The cabals in the galamsey activities are in the prospecting sector,” Mr Quarm said.
He contended that until such unscrupulous persons were “crushed”, the fight against illegal small-scale mining would come to nought.
“They (prospecting companies) are the cabals; they must be tamed,” he stressed.
Moratorium not solution
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr John Peter Amewu, announced at the launch of the Media Coalition against Galamsey last Tuesday that a moratorium had been placed on the application and issuance of new licences to persons who wanted to go into small-scale mining.
But Mr Quarm, whose constituency has been ravaged by illegal mining, said the moratorium announced by the minister was not the solution to the problem, explaining that the solution must start with revoking prospecting licences.
Over the years, the MP has been at the forefront of the fight against galamsey, strongly advocating that the authorities should act to stop the practice.
He said regrettably, large-scale mining companies were left untouched when galamsey was mentioned, noting, however, that “many of them are complicit”.
Media advocacy good
While welcoming the new media advocacy against galamsey, the MP said there was more to be done to save the country from further destruction of its resources by galamsey operators.
Earlier this week, the Media Coalition against Galamsey began its advocacy to get the government to act to stop illegal mining.
The coalition is made up of seven media houses and associations.
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