Member of Parliament for Assin Central, Kennedy Agyapong says the government has made a decision to lift the ban on small-scale mining.

The Chairman of Parliament's communications committee told Joy news the government had been doing some meeting and putting in place interventions before they lift the ban.

“Measures are being put in place to register small-scale miners to help in the regulation of illegal mining,” he said.

Mr. Agyapong said the government will soon announce the exact date when the ban will be lifted.

Shortly after assuming power, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) declared a ban on small-scale mining as part of efforts to fight the activities of illegal mining popularly called galamsey.

Galamsey has fouled the environment, polluted rivers and destroyed many farmlands.

In 2017, the government, after deploying some soldiers [operation vanguard] to help fight illegal mining, placed a six-month ban on activities of small-scale miners.

Related: 3 Operation Vanguard Officers arrested for extortion

However, the ban had been extended to help the smooth operation of the soldiers against galamsey.

Read more: Gov't to extend ban on small scale mining – Amewu

Mr. Agyapong alleged that, “some of the soldiers on Operation Vanguard were so corrupt, they abuse their powers and work with illegal miners instead of arresting them.”

He, however, cautioned that: “Those who are going to monitor the small-scale miners after the ban have been lifted, should be sincere to themselves and to the nation.”