The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has directed all sixteen (16) regional ministers to be present at a meeting 10 o’clock in the forenoon of Wednesday September 11, 2024 at his ministry.
This meeting is meant to take decisions to comprehensively tackle the challenges of illegal small scale mining with a sense of urgency.
The meeting, insiders hint, would take a review of initiatives implemented by successive Governments over the years and draw lessons from whatever shortfalls may be contained in the implementation of the said initiatives. This would be followed with ho-brutally frank deliberations to come up with practical and workable solutions to be implemented in consultation and cooperation with relevant stakeholders to acheive immediate, short term and long term results.
Wednesday’s crisis meeting is at the behest of the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, officially mandated by Section 11 of the Civil Service Law, 1993 (PNDCL 327) to ensure the sustainable management and utilization of the Ghana’s lands and forests resources as well as the efficient management of the mineral resources for socio-economic growth and development.
Illegal small scale mining mostly known as ‘galamsey’ has become a sustained threat to the country’s forest reserves and water bodies and a rather sensitive subject which opposition political parties, especially the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has blamed the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration of ‘deliberately’ failing to tackle. In the heat of the ongoing pre-election campaign, the ruling government has become a political punch bag receiving all the blames for effects of galamsey while the NDC claims innocence and says it has clean hands.
Over the years, Lands Minister Samuel Jinapor, has insisted that the fight against galamsey would not be successful if it is handled as a partisan political issue one rather than a challenge that is tackled in the spirit of national consensus. Abu Jinapor ‘hauls’ 16 ministers to answer for failed galamsey fight
