The 2020 parliamentary candidate for Agona East, Samuel Aryeequaye, has asked President Akufo-Addo to close down community mining companies.

Speaking to the media, Mr Aryeequaye said initiative is no different from galamsey but just with a polished name.

According to him, the menace have become a hindrance to government’s war against illegal mining.

Government has been fighting illegal mining for many years, but despite efforts and massive investments, the situation seems to get worse almost every day.

Over the years, illegal mining has destroyed majority of the country’s agricultural lands and contaminated many water bodies. As a result, there are already water shortages in various parts of the nation.

The President, through the minister in charge of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, introduced a new module [Community Mining Scheme] to replace the antiquated and more harmful galamsey practices and also to empower mining communities economically as part of efforts to regulate small-scale mining activities in the nation.

However, Mr Aryeequaye says all these community mining companies must be closed down with immediate effect if the government is indeed serious about this fight.

He claims that many illegal miners are operating in secret behind these community mining companies, further polluting the nation’s water supplies and damaging its agricultural land meanwhile this initiative was introduced to sanitize the system.

He is absolutely confident that if these community mining firms continue to function, the government’s investment in the fight against galamsey will be in vain.