The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has presented his plan for tackling illegal mining, focusing on a preventive approach.

His strategy aims to reform the small-scale mining sector by enhancing the role of the Geological Survey Authority in mineral prospecting and creating a shared resource pool of equipment for sustainable mining practices.

Addressing concerns about illegal mining, commonly referred to as ‘galamsey,’ during a visit to Kpone Katamanso, Dr. Bawumia highlighted the need for proactive measures.

He stressed that responsible and sustainable mining can only be achieved through early intervention and thorough preparation.

“So one needs to look at the whole regime of small-scale mining and sanitise that regime, regularise the regime. Make sure that the Geological Survey Authority of Ghana does the mapping for where all the gold reserves are.

“At the moment people are just doing trial and error, destroying our environment. There is no data backing where they go. They just go and dig, they don’t find, they go to the next place and start digging. they don’t find, they go to the next place.

“But I want us to set up community mining schemes with certainty from the geological survey department that here you have gold. In that case, we can make sure that those who are mining there are regularised. We bring in these gold catcher machines that don’t use mercury and make sure they are not in water bodies.

“So we direct them and license them into areas so that they do responsible mining and environmentally sustainable mining.

“That is the way you stop this. But if you don’t regulate them then they will hide to do it at night and when they feel people are not watching them, that’s where they will go.

“They will get into the water bodies. But we need to regulate them and we need to also enforce the laws that are already existent,” he stated.