The General Secretary of the Small-Scale Miners Association, Godwin Armah, has criticised calls for a ban on small-scale mining, describing them as unfair.

According to Mr Armah, small-scale mining is legal, and no licensed small-scale miner is permitted to operate in forest reserves or near water bodies.

He pointed out that large-scale mining companies are often found violating these regulations.

“We are not happy with what is going on. Most miners create a borehole to work with. The call for the ban on small-scale mining is unfair because we are not even licensed to operate on such a large scale. Those operating on water bodies are not small-scale miners,” he stated.

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Mr Armah emphasised that banning small-scale mining is not the solution to illegal mining, commonly known as “galamsey.”

He highlighted the efforts of a task force that apprehends illegal miners, but he noted that these offenders are often released when taken to court, allowing them to return to illegal mining activities.

He also mentioned that local chiefs have allowed the illegal practice to continue.

“The solution to galamsey is not to ban small-scale mining. We have a task force that catches these illegal miners, but when they are taken to court, they are eventually released. So, at the end of the day, they end up going back to the galamsey. The chiefs in the areas have also allowed the menace to continue. We need to fully implement the Minerals Commission Act on illegal mining.”