Minister-designate for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mahama Ayariga, says small-scale miners must be required to restore lands affected by their operations as part of efforts to ensure responsible mining.

Mr Ayariga, speaking during his vetting before Parliament’s Appointments Committee on Thursday, August 27, said the government must improve its monitoring of mining activities while supporting operators to undertake their activities legally.

He proposed increased investment in the Environmental Protection Agency and the Minerals Commission to give the institutions the personnel and technical capacity needed to monitor mining sites across the country.

“Let’s invest in EPA and have a lot of people at the EPA, let’s invest in the Minerals Commission and have a lot of mining engineers who identify every district and every single space where mining activity is taking place,” he said.

According to Mr Ayariga, such monitoring would help ensure that mining is conducted in line with the law and that operators fulfil their environmental obligations.

“Whoever that carries out that activity will reclaim the area and plant and make sure that they restore the area to what it was,” he said, outlining an approach that combines legal enforcement with land reclamation and environmental restoration.