The Minister-designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, says the Government would work diligently to restore biodiversity and ensure sustainable mining and forest resources, upon his approval.

“I will stop these activities by ensuring sanity in the mining industry, heal the polluted water bodies, plant trees and bring back the biodiversity and ecology,” Mr Buah gave these assurances when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, in Accra on Monday.

The nominee outlined three key government interventions including the Blue Water, the Tree for Life and Restore Ghana initiatives, to harness the forest resources and restore the degraded bio-ecology.

Asked about how he would combat illegal small-scale mining, the nominee said illegal mining went to the root of the country’s survival and would work to “deal with the powerful and those in the dark behind it”.

The Minister-designate noted that illegal mining was a huge challenge and must be pursued in a bi-partisan approach and thus reiterated the NDC government’s commitment to undertake a holistic review of the mining licensing regime.

Responding to frequent clashes between large-scale mining firms and host mining communities, the nominee assured that he would build trust and understanding between these stakeholders to promote mutual respect and a win-win situation.

On measures to protect the water bodies, Mr Buah said the government would train water guards “for them to understand that fighting water pollution is protecting the soul of our country”.

“It is illegal to do mining in water bodies and we’re going to combat it with the people,” he emphasised.