Pratt Slates Inter-ministerial Taskforce Team On Illegal Mining

Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has called on the Inter-ministerial Taskforce Team established by President John Mahama to flush out illegal miners to cease taking the law into their own hands by subjecting alleged illegal miners to instant punishment.

The team which was set up last month has been accused of deviating from the task it was set up to do. Some claim the committee has foregone its major task of seizing machines and equipment of illegal miners by burning everything to the ground.

The Inter-ministerial Task Force on Illegal Mining, which is chaired by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, has other ministries such as the Interior, Defence, Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration as well as Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, making up the team.

Commenting on the activities by the taskforce team in some regions, the outspoken journalist emotively issued caution to the authorities to comport themselves in handling the culprits.

He expressed strong disapproval with the conduct of the taskforce and questioned the logic in their actions.

Making reference to the recent damage to property belonging to HANSOL Mining Company, Kwesi Pratt described as “senseless” the alleged gross extortion, setting ablaze of site structures and equipment belonging to small-scale miners in the country, particularly those with different political affiliations.

He admonished the security taskforce to desist from burning the equipment used by the small-scale miners but to ensure that justice takes its cause whenever they mount a search for the illegal miners.

“Let’s test the law in the court,” he insisted.

He also bemoaned the culture where eventhough the Mining industry of Ghana accounts for 5% of the country's GDP and minerals make up 37% of total exports; the government retains just a 10% carrying interest in mining companies to which it grants a license, stressing that the blame should not only be placed at the doorsteps of the influx of Chinese nationals who have infiltrated the mining sites.

To him, “the problem in the mining sector is not galamsey. Galamsey may be a problem but there are bigger problems”, and appealed to government to identify the root cause of problems associated with mining in the country.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana