AYA EXPRESSES DISGUST WITH GOVERNMENT IN ITS HANDLING OF THE BAN ON ILLEGAL MINING ACTIVITY.

AYA EXPRESSES DISGUST WITH GOVERNMENT IN ITS HANDLING OF THE BAN ON ILLEGAL MINING ACTIVITY.
The Asante Youth Association expresses utmost disgust with the government of Ghana in what looks to be a semblance of exclusion and favouritism in the operations of the taskforce (OPERATION VANGUARD) commissioned to halt illegal mining (galamsey) nationwide.

PRESS RELEASE IS AS FOLLOWS

We are reliably informed that as the activity is halted in the whole of Asante, some mining companies in other regions are briskly mining. That is cold pragmatism, hugely unfair and dishonest as we know governments imbibe the fundamental principles of fair treatment and honest dealing. There is brisk small-scale mining operations going on in the Western, Eastern, Central, Brong-Ahafo, Upper-East, Upper-West regions. Companies such as C&J Alaska, Dollar Power, Nawara Moss, Kibi Goldfields, Extra Gold et al are mining with reckless abandon in a seeming disregard to the nationwide ban. So we ask, is the ban placed on small-scale mining or galamsey? If the latter is the answer, why are companies with licences in the other regions with mineral deposits except Asante (Ashanti) mining in the light of the ban?
We think a definitive explanation as to which activity the ban is on should be given in clear terms. Whether small-scale mining or galamsey in that the examples in the other regions smack of partiality.
To this end, what is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. We submit that if there is this cold pragmatism and measures seemingly founded on partiality, then our uncles and fathers in Asante with the requisite documentation and licence should be allowed to carry on with their mining engagements. After all, some companies in other regions with similar licences are still in brisk business.
It is important to note that the ban has adversely affected the buoyancy and the drive of the Asante economy. It has aided to the contraction of economic activities in the region. Artisans at our garages, market women, farmers are all bearing the niggling brunt of the ‘ban’.
We therefore demand the road-map to the lifting of the ban and the comprehensive solution to the whole collection of illegal mining through monitoring and evaluation from the government of Ghana in two weeks. A thriving nation is built on the foundations of equity and fairness.
We want the government to treat this press release with all the urgency and the seriousness it deserves.

Signed.

Nana Yaw Brenya
(President)

Conveners
Nana Kwaku Okuma
and
Nana Oppong

The post AYA EXPRESSES DISGUST WITH GOVERNMENT IN ITS HANDLING OF THE BAN ON ILLEGAL MINING ACTIVITY. appeared first on Star Media Ghana.