Decouple Inspectorate Division From Minerals Commission -Wacam, CEIA Tell Government

Dr Obiri, therefore, appealed to government to grant autonomous power to the Inspectorate Division of the Commission so that it would liase with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to perform its constitutional mandate effectively to safeguard the water bodies, forest reserves and environment.

Decouple Inspectorate Division From Minerals Commission -Wacam, CEIA Tell Government
Mrs Hannah Owusu Koranteng (middle) interacting with Ms Sekyiwa Darko(left) Head Community Relations Petroleum Commission. With them is Mr Ahmed Nantogmah(right)
The Civil Society Organizations (SSOs) including Wacam and Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis (CEIA) have stated categorically that it is a high time for the central government to make the office of Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission autonomous institution.

They noted that it is this time for the office of Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission to governs or controls itself rather than be tasked to be working under control of the Minerals Commission.
 
They pointed that, there are clear envidences that the Minerals Commission is making the constitutional mandatory works and tasks of the Inspectorate Division ineffective and inefficient.

According to them, the Inspectorate Division of the Minerals Commission has been ineffective thereby allowing illegal small scale mining activities to fester in the country.
They indicated that the Inspectorate Division was supposed to supervise the reclamation of mined areas and safety at mining sites but the Office had not been effective for many years because it has been working under the umbrella body of Minerals Commission.
"So what we are saying was that if the office of Inspectorate Division is given autonomous power to stand on itself it would work effectively and efficiently, the Executive Director of Centre for Environmental Impact Analysis, Dr. Samuel Obiri suggested.
Dr Obiri, therefore, appealed to government to grant autonomous power to the Inspectorate Division of the Commission so that it would liase with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to perform its constitutional mandate effectively to safeguard the water bodies, forest reserves and environment.

Dr. Obiri made these foregoing calls to the government of Ghana in an interview with Soireenews.com on the sideline at a two-day forum aimed at promoting responsible mining in the country 
Organised by WACAM, a mining advocacy organisation, the forum offered various stakeholders the opportunity to discuss the current state of mining and develop concrete steps for the implementation of legal and regulatory reforms to support the responsible mining agenda.

It is on the theme, “Achieving the Responsible Mining Goals: A Reality or Mirage.”
Dr  was of the view that the illegal small scale mining challenges facing the country can be easily fixed if government of Ghana makes the Inspectorate Division an independent institution to fight against irresponsible mining activities.
He observed that if the mining activities regulatory aspects were being taken seriously by the Minerals Commission, we should not be still talking about soaring of illegal small scale mining activities in the country.
"So it is this point that we the Civil Sociaty Organisations felt that existing Inspectorate Division of Minerals Commission to report to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Minerals Commission but if we have Minerals Commission which is pro-mining activities it likely to undermine the efforts of Inspectorate Division. 
"This development that inform our decision to make the clarion calls to the government of Ghana that it is a high time for it to immediately decouple the office of the  Inspectorate Division from Mineral Commission," Dr Obiri stated.

For her part, Associate Executive Director of WACAM, Mrs Hannah Owusu-Koranteng said despite the importance of mining, activities of mining have created land-based conflicts and impacted negatively on agriculture.
Among them, she said, was that mining companies had used their economic and lobbying power to control compensation negotiations with vulnerable farmers resulting in the payment of compensation that did not reflect the long-term benefits of farming to people affected by the operations of multinational mining companies.
She noted that surface mining operations had taken place in protected forests including Kubi Forest Reserves and in AjenuaBepo Forest Reserve that served as the source of many rivers and contained plants that were new to science.
She stated further that some mining companies had established mine pits at the headwaters of important rivers all over the country.

Beyond the economic and social displacement caused by surface mining operations, MrsOwusu-Koranteng said the use of chemicals for mining had resulted in cyanide spillages and pollution of rivers, thus exposing communities that continuously drink the polluted streams to cancers.
In the face of all the environmental and health consequences of surface mining operations, mining companies were being given tax incentives that could have been channelled to other uses, she added.

The current challenges, she said, had been exacerbated by weak mining laws which made it difficult to sanction defaulting mining companies.
“We would not be able to hold mining companies to responsible mining practices with our existing weak laws which prescribe weak penalties for infractions of the law, including prescribing fines as low as US$5,000.
The only way to hold mining companies to responsible corporate behaviour is to develop strong mining laws,” Mrs. Owusu-Koranteng stated.
Chief Executive of the Chamber of Mines, MrSulemanuKoney, reiterated the need for more Ghanaian participation in the mining industry.

He explained that it was imperative that Ghanaians, as owners of the mineral resources, invested in the mining sector to accrue the needed benefits.
In this regard, he advocated that the Akwatia Mines, which had been dormant due to lack of investments, be listed on the stock exchange to enable Ghanaians invest in it.
He said despite the importance of foreign direct investments in the country, it was critical that Ghanaians own and benefits more from the mineral resources to create wealth.
Mining companies, Mr.Koney noted, were committed to supporting government’s economic recovery efforts in addition to other obligations to help Ghana’s development.

The Director of Finance of Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners (GNASSM), Mr Francis Opoku said there was the need for enhanced enforcement to clamp down on illegal mining which had led to the pollution of water bodies and degradation of forest reserves.
Deputy Director in charge of Small Scale Mining, Minerals Commission, Samuel Tika, said the Commission was reviewing some of the mining regulations to strengthen enforcement.