According to Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ellembelle, indigenous people should be permitted to start a sustainable community mining scheme.
Therefore, he requested that the government employ the Community Mining Scheme Manual efficiently to stop land degradation, water body pollution, and health risks.
The request was made by Mr. Kofi Buah, who is also the Deputy Minority Leader in Parliament, when he visited Nana Ainoc-Kwagyan III, the Chief of Esiama, in his palace.
According to Mr. Kofi Buah, a government led by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) would implement a community mining scheme sustainably and comprehensively that wouldn’t harm the land or water resources.
Mr Kofi Buah indicated that good mining practices from countries like Australia could be emulated to save the country’s water bodies from pollution and lands from degrading.
The Deputy Minority Leader said, “Reports from hospitals about the debilitating effects of unsustainable mining activities popularly called galamsey on newborn babies without essential parts of their bodies due to cyanide and toxin in water bodies, called for concern to abate the galamsey nuisance in all forms”.
The Chief of Esiama, Nana Ainoo-Kwagyan III thanked Mr Kofi Buah for making his position on the Community Mining Schene known to the people and that he and his elders also shared the same view with Mr Kofi Buah.
Nana Ainoo-Kwagyan III said Esiama was among the 14 towns earmarked for the Community Mining Scheme. It is expected to provide jobs to the teeming youth to better their living conditions.
The Chief urged the government to ensure that the Community Mining Scheme was done sustainably and holistically by avoiding pollution of river bodies and degrading the land.
He also appealed to the government to prioritise land reclamation as the Community Mining Scheme progressed.
Nana Ainoo-Kwagyan III reminded Ghanaians that “our forebears traded in gold mining activities without polluting water bodies and degrading the land, so why now.”
