Engaging in illegal mining popularly known as galamsey could soon land people in jail for at least five years.

That can however only happen if the amended Minerals and Mining Bill is passed into law next week.

The sanction is to stop illegal mining which has polluted rivers and other water bodies across the country.

The amended Bill also grants powers to the Lands and Natural Resources Minister to allocate to state institutions within 60 days equipment and items seized from illegal mining.

Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, Alhaji Amadu Sorogo, is convinced the bill offers stiffer punishment for offenders.

“We have agreed on the maximum and minimum sentence but we have allowed the judiciary to decide which area to fix it. We thought that the minimum of three years which we gave was too small taking into cognisance the damage that is done.

“The pollution of water bodies to the extent that to be able to turn simple water into potable one, you need a lot of chemicals. This will serve a serious notice to those who are engaged in illegal mining”, he added.

He said Committee agreed to auction equipment collected from these illegal miners which will not be of use to state agencies.

Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah Mills is hopeful once passed into law foreigners in particular will be deterred from even engaging in small scale mining which is a preserve for Ghanaians.

“Certainly it will make an impact because no one would want to go to jail and if the law makes provision for foreigners found in the illegal act to be fined, it is going to deter them”.