John Dramani Mahama says the mining sector requires re-categorisation to ensure effective monitoring and supervision.
He says the current categorisation of the sector into small and large scales does not effectively represent all the categories since some small-scale operators have grown beyond small, but are not ripe enough to qualify for large scale.
He has therefore established the need to get a medium scale mining categorisation to effectively position their monitoring and supervision to avert their debilitating impact on the envir onment.
Speaking at the 3rd Annual Transformational Dialogue on Small-scale mining’ organised by the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani Thursday, May 15, 2024, the former President said sector regulation will be much easier with the re-categorisation.
“It is also my vision to reform the mining sector structurally. Ghana’s small-scale mining sector is perhaps the only economic sector with only two categories—small and large. Some mines within the small-scale category have grown beyond ‘small’ but are not large enough to qualify as large-scale.
“My government will structurally reform the entire mining sector through a comprehensive re-categorisation into Small-scale (SSM), Medium-scale (MSM), and Large-scale (LSM), each with specifically tailored operational, environmental, and safety requirements.
“Through these deliberate efforts, sector regulation would be much easier and more effective, and support systems for miners, including access to legal mining sites, fair markets, and financial services, would be enhanced,” he noted.
The NDC flag bearer stated further that “by providing a framework that supports legal mining practices, we hope to encourage compliance and deter illegal activities. Additionally, we will take deliberate and conscious policy steps to ensure that Ghanaians wholly operate Medium-scale (MSM) mining operations without foreign frontrunners.”
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