The Lands Minister, Samuel Abu Jinapor, says government's fight against illegal small scale mining cannot be completed in President Akufo-Addo's second term in office.

According to the minister, it requires more than a decade's effort for Ghana to be free of 'galamsey'.

"We are not out of the woods yet. We have not gotten to a satisfactory stage yet. We have not gotten to a situation we can say that we have a full grip on the issue of illegal small scale mining in our country.

"I'll be the first to admit that it wouldn't take 4,5, 8 or 10 years to rid our country of illegal scale mining completely," he said on GBC Breakfast Show on Tuesday.

Despite the challenges, Mr Jinapor noted that the government has chalked some success in the fight against illegal small scale mining in the country.

The Damongo MP indicated the government has been able to put up the necessary reforms in the regulatory regime and enforce its mechanisms to address the canker.

"We will also have to admit that we have made considerable gains and we have gotten to a point where we can reasonably be encouraged that a better framework and the building blocks have been put in place to deal with this menace.

"I'm talking about matters to do with how you acquire licenses, whether you do that online, the whole issue of community mining, inspectorate division of the Minerals Commission, issues to do with exploration for mineralized concessions.

The enforcement mechanism is where you find matters that have to do with Operation Halt, and efforts made by the Regional and District Security Councils. Though we have not arrived at the point we seek to reach, we have so far made substantial progress.”

He assured that government will not be complacent to lose the successes chalked for about 5 years.

"We are going to be totally committed, all the measures we have introduced are going to be enhanced this year.”

According to the Lands Minister, ‘galamsey’ is one of the most crucial issues in the country.