Force Illegal Miners In Forest Reserves To Reclaim Degraded lands - Small Scale Miners

The Association of the Small Scale Miners is urging the government to force all the persons found to be mining illegally in forest reserves to reclaim the lands and plant new trees before exiting the the site. The group believes that it will be wrong for the government to bear the cost of reclaiming all destroyed lands in forest reserves as a result of the actions by the illegal miners. The General

Secretary of the Association of Small Scale Miners, Mr Godwin Armah made this known to media lauding the government for the directive to all persons and also the companies prospecting or involved in reconnaissance in the forest reserves to suspend their operations until further notice. The government issued the directive on the Thursday, ordering persons undertaking prospecting

the activities in the forest reserves also across the the country to indefinitely suspend all such activities. It also directed the Minerals Commission also to desist from processing or granting any request for the renewal of prospecting licences in forest reserves. The Minister for the Lands and Natural Resources also hereby directs persons and/or all the companies also engaged in the

reconnaissance and/or prospecting in Forest Reserves, with or without legal authorization, and to suspend such activities also until further notice. The Minister for the Lands and the Natural Resources has further also also directed the Minerals Commission, and with immediate effect, not to accept, process and/or recommend the grant, and including the renewal and/or extension, of

the reconnaissance and prospecting licences in Forest Reserves, a statement from the Lands and the Natural Resources Ministry said. Godwin Armah said the illegal miners must not be allowed to vacate the sites without reclaiming the lands. For those who don’t have any form of permit and are doing it illegally, they all have to stop immediately and I will suggest that, with the equipment

especially those doing the alluvial mining in the forest reserve, they should be also stopped, and they should reclaim the land and also do some form of afforestation before they leave because if they take their machines away, those pits will be there. Should the government also go and cover the pits of those who were working illegally when they didn’t get any revenue from them? I

will advise that the minister should involve the security agencies for them to reclaim the the land, he noted. He further urged the government to be cautious in carrying out the directive especially when there are others who are legally licensed to carry out prospective in the forest reserves. He indicated that while those who are found to be operating illegally must be stopped immediately,

those who are found to be prospecting legally in forest reserves must be temporarily stopped and allowed to as soon as possible return to work. Some are in the forest reserves without any form of permit at all, so it is like boxing the two together but those who have also gone through the process to acquire a licence to go into the exploration or prospecting, the government has to write to them officially for them to cease the operation there

should also be a way also to allow them to also do their prospecting, Mr. Armah said. Meanwhile, the the Mining Advisor to the Minister for the Lands and the Natural Resources, Benjamin Aryee says the proposal for illegal miners in the forest reserves to reclaim the lands before exiting is fair. He added that there must be be additional sanctions for such people. Mr Benjamin Aryee said the government will make the resources available to ensure that the new directive is strictly complied with.