Government's community mining initiative similar to 'galamsey' - Okyenhene
The Okyenhene said the comunity mining program is causing more harm than good in mining communities across the country.
Jonas Danquah 
The Okyenhene, Ofori Panyin Amotia II says the community mining initiative introduced by the government to curb galamsey is worse.
He described the initiative as 'disguised galamsey' causing more harm than good in mining communities across the country.
The head of the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Council said this when the Eastern Regional Minister, Seth Acheampong, paid a courtesy call on him.
“We understand all documents and licence needed for one to undertake mining rest in the bosom of the President in Accra, so if one obtains the licence then he will then bring it to the DCE at the local level where normally durbars are held to inform the people, but the chiefs do not have any say in it. When all is said, these guys will then approach the chiefs informing them about their acquired licence to mine in the community and will just present something small for the chiefs, but the chiefs will then be blamed after lands and water bodies are destroyed in the process”.
“Just recently I was here when the sector minister came talking about community mining and I told him point-blank not to come and deceive the chiefs because there is nothing better in community mining because it is similar to galamsey. They use the same method to cause destruction to the land but just that this has been described as a policy from government”, he said as quoted by pulsegh.
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“We are coming to rise up against that policy, and we will not agree to the community mining initiative because if the Birim becomes polluted, the blame is not brought to the doorstep of the MCE but the chiefs and the President. So we have advised ourselves because we have talked about this severally and nothing has been done about it. No one can issue a mining licence to someone without letting traditional authorities who are custodians of the land know about that arrangement”.
Ofori Panyin Amotia II also said: “There are a lot of uncovered pits and lands that have not been reclaimed across the communities are dangerous to human lives especially our children. We want to have a meeting with you for us to get a reclamation policy. Peter Amewu and the Minister of Lands came to launch a reclamation program which we have not heard anything about again. It is not under the leadership of the president and the NPP that lands and water bodies will be destroyed, so we need to put a stop to it”.
