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Steps to halt illegal miners commended

  • SOURCE: | qwesa2big
  • mining communityMr Timothy Mwaba Walamba, e High Commissioner of Zambia to Ghana has lauded the bold and decisive steps taken by the government of Ghana to halt the influx of illegal and foreign’ miners into the small scale mining Sector in the country.

    Mr Walamba revealed that he has come under immense pressure from his government to understudy, the. campaign conducted by Ghana’s International Ministerial Taskforce against illegal mining, to enable him advise Zambian authorities on strategies to curtail the influx of illegal Indian miners into the country’s mining industry, said a statement issued by the Mines Ministry i in Accra.

    He announced that a high profile Zambian government delegation including officials of Zambian Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development was standing by to travel to Ghana to r learn at first-hand the experiences of the Taskforce to assistit launch a similar campaign in Zambia.

    Mr Walamba made the commendation during a courtesy call c on Athaji Inusah Fuseini , Minister for Lands and Natural Resources. The High Commissioner called to discuss possible lessons which the Zambian government could learn from Ghana’s .nvironmental governance to improve ,ustainable natural resources nanagement in the South African country.

    Touching on the cordial bilateral relations between the two countries, ambassador described that Zambia and Ghana as ” one family” in recognition of the immense contribution made by Ghana under Dr Kwame Nkrumah to the independence struggle in Zambia and expressed the hope that President John Mahama will participate in Zambia’s forthcoming 50 anniversary celebrations to cement the bonds of friendship between the two
    sister countries.

    On his part A.1haji Fuseini re-affirmed Ghana’s commitment to the strong historic tics between the two countries nurtured during the colonial era and assured the Zambian envoy of his readiness of his Ministry to assist Zambia to formulate strategies to effectively halt the indiscriminate plundering and looting of its natural resources.

    The Sector Minister attributed the recent upsurge influx of illegal foreigners miners into the small mining sector in Ghana partially to poor monitoring of the nation’s borders by immigration officers who are sometimes compromised and revealed that capacities of such frontline state institutions are being strengthen to stem, the influx of foreign miners.

    Alhaji Fuseini revealed that some illegal foreign miners took up arms against some communities in the Ashanti Region in a bid to block access to water bodies for their illegal operations and encouraged the Zambian government to take a clue from Ghana’s legislative framework to restrict artisanal mining to Zambian nationals.

    He indicated that the Ministry was prepared to share its experiences and expertise in combating illegal mining with its Zambian counterparts and assured the Zambian Ambassador that an elaborate programme including tour to some former galamsey sites will prepared for the consideration of the Zambian Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development.

    Source:B&FT

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