“I will ban all mining in forest reserves” – Mahama

Under the new NDC government, John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has issued a warning to anyone hoping to conduct mining operations in Ghana’s forest reserves: avoid going there.

He emphasized that protecting the nation’s vegetative cover must not come at the price of mineral resource extraction.

He promised to support ethical mining practices and see to it that water sources contaminated by illicit mining operations are returned to their original state.

Speaking at a public lecture at Kumasi’s Christian Service University, the former president declared that the nation’s forest reserves are more valuable than any minerals beneath them and that any acts taken to diminish them would not be tolerated.

“I will ban all mining in forest reserves because I believe that many of the trees in the reserves, which are more than 700 years old, are more precious assets than any mineral that lies beneath them.”

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com