Solve Basic Issues In Local Mining Communities Now Wacam Boss Urges Gov't
The Director of WACAM, a civil society group in the mining sector, Mr Daniel Owusu Koranteng, has expressed concern about the increasing rate of poverty levels of the people living in the mining operating communities in the country
Joana Somiah 
Mr Koranteng who is very passionate about human development stated that despite loads of our natural mineral resources, the government has still found it extremely difficult to address various basic community development issues in the mining-affected communities.
Looking at the lack of development in the mining-affected communities, Mr Koranteng said that the successive governments are interested in promoting mining activities of the mining companies without looking at the numerous challenges which are facing the billions of residents in their communities.
Mr Koranteng said the mining law available in Ghana now was promotional and so the situation called for very strong regulation.
He stressed that the continuous poor level of the people living in the mining-affected communities is not the best way for national development.
To this end called on the media to push pressure on the government to address various basic community development issues in the mining-affected communities.
Mr Koranteng expressed this sentiment when he was speaking to journalists who were drawn from Sunyani, Accra, Nkoranza among others at the workshop in Koforidua in the Eastern Region on Friday, 13, 202.
It was organized by, Wacam, which is a premier community based human rights and environmental mining advocacy NGO in Ghana to share its research findings with the media.
He stated that Wacam sees the media as its development partner, the situation, according to him, informed the Wacam's decision to share it research finding with the media.
According to him, the Wacam was very happy that the media practitioners are interested in working with the extractive sector.
Mr Koranteng stressed the need for the government to promote investment into the mining sector to generate some resources to carry out some of these responsibilities.
For his part, the Dean of the School for Development Studies at the University of Cape Coast, Dr Emmanuel Yamoah Tenkorang called on Ghanaians to attack seriously the local content potential for the participation in gold and oil and gas exploitation in Ghana.
Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu
