Lands and Natural Resources Minister-designate, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor says if he is approved as Minister, he will ensure that the policies of the Minerals Commission are reformed to promote community mining.

According to Mr Jinapor who took his turn today before Parliament's Appointments Committee, if the operations of the Commission are enhanced and made easily accessible to these mining communities it will enable the community miners to acquire their mining licenses and help reduce galamsey in the country.

“The next phase of our effort should be about how we are going to reform the operation and services of the Minerals Commission so that their services will be readily available and also for us to promote community mining." 

His statement was in response to a question posed by a member of Parliament's Appointments Committee on what he would do differently to address the issue on the challenges licensing of community miners.

As part of the reforms, Mr Jinapor believes revamping community mining "will go a long way in dealing with the incidences of illegal small-scale mining.

But before that can happen, "reforms in the Mineral Commission are completely important - it is a sine qua non - we need to reform the Minerals Commission in terms of its operations," Jinapor added.

He, however, was quick to add that "I don't by any means suggest that the Minerals Commission has not done any good job. They've done their best under the circumstances".

Community Mining Scheme was launched in June 2020, by the Akufo-Addo-led government to curb illegal small-scale mining in the country.

The purpose of the scheme is to stimulate wealth creation, promote community involvement and linkages with other sectors of the economy and is expected to create 16,000 direct jobs nationwide.