Government dissolves all Community Mining Schemes

With immediate effect, the government has dissolved all community mining schemes.

At a news conference in Accra on Wednesday, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, made the announcement.

Despite being established with the intention of benefiting the community, the Minister claimed that all of the current Community Mining Schemes were merely symbolic.

According to the Minister, the Community Mining Schemes will be replaced with Mining Cooperatives in this regard when community members have been included and due diligence has been completed to ensure that the people are fairly represented.

The decision to abolish the Community Mining Schemes comes after an 18-member Working Committee, which was established by the government last month to examine the present licensing system and suggest a comprehensive plan to address the threat of illegal mining, released an interim report.

According to the Minister, the Working Committee’s conclusions showed that while the local people were supposed to gain from the Mining Schemes, “this is not the case.”

All small-scale mining permits issued by the previous administration after December 7, 2024, have been withdrawn by the government.

A Technical Small-Scale Mining Review Committee was established by the government to examine and verify all current small-scale mining permits in order to achieve this goal.

The Environmental Protection Agency, Minerals Commission, Forestry Commission, Water Resources Commission, and Attorney General’s Office would all have representatives on the Committee.

Yusif Sulemana, the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, would chair the Committee. A Director from the Ministry of Environment, Science, and Technology would serve as a depute.

According to the Lands Minister, the Technical Review Committee was established to examine all present small-scale licenses because the current licensing system was riddled with difficulties.

According to Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah, the Committee’s mandate was to audit all licenses to make sure they were obtained legally, that due process was followed, and that they satisfied all requirements for ongoing validity in terms of environmental protection, protecting water bodies, forest reserves, and land preservation standards.

Additionally, it is to confirm that all permits have been paid in full.

Within two months, the committee must complete its task and submit a report to the Ministry.

“All licensees are expected to cooperate and subject their documentation to this exercise within this period. All those who failed to go through this process will have their licenses revoked,” he cautioned.

The ministries of Environment, Science, and Technology, as well as Lands and Natural Resources, are collaborating to create a new categorization for the Small-Scale Mining regime, Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah declared.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com