The recent tragedy which occurred in Dunkwa- on-Offin has regenerated the debate on legalizing galamsey, Kofi Ahovi looks at the prospects of legalizing the trade employs about 15,000.
There have been several debates in the past with respect to the registration of illegal miners and making their activities legally bound. But these debates have not been fruitful due to the political trend it most often assumes.
The recent tragedy in Dunkwa-on-Offin, which resulted in the loss of about 80 lives after the mine collapsed, has resuscitated the debate again. Reports say the abandoned gold mine collapsed after heavy rains.
Galamsey, a Ghanaian lexical item for illegal mining, which used to be a covert operation, has spread from Obuasi to the Twifu-Hemang area in the western part of the country. The government’s attempts at providing water with a 59 million dollar project to the people in the Cape Coast municipality are being delayed because of illegal mining activities.
The River Pra, the main source of water supply for the project, has been polluted with chemicals that the illegal miners use to extract minerals.
It is becoming difficult for environmentalists to continue their fight for the people against the mining companies because the illegal miners are now possibly destroying the environment more than the companies. The latter are, after all, regulated.
The clandestine activities of galamsey bring in its wake economic, environmental, human, health and social problems to the society and the country as a whole.
Gold mining is the sector worst hit by the activities of illegal miners. Revenue from gold, which accounted for the highest proportion of total mineral revenue, dropped by 5.79% in 2007 compared to that of the first quarter of the previous year.
In January 2008, 37 miners were nearly killed when they were trapped underground for almost nine hours at the South African company Anglogold Ashanti’s mine at Obuasi. This happened because illegal miners interfered with electrical cables connected to the mine shaft.
Many wonder what could push an individual to such a life threatening engagement, not only to them but others. Social injustice is considered a major reason that forces people into such a deadly venture. All the major companies look at the regional capitals and the capital city when they are setting up. As a result, jobs are concentrated in the capital cities so people in the hinterlands are meant to find in ‘galamseying’ a gainful employer no matter how abhorrent this employer is.
Mention must also be made of the apparent accusations being leveled against mining companies in certain gold-rich communities like Obuasi, Prestea and Bogoso. Some galamseyers argue that their lands have been appropriated by mining companies and as they cannot farm, they must eat and hence, venturing into illegal mining. But some mining companies have taken upon themselves the policy of corporate social responsibility by which they are helping people go into agriculture as seen in the Western and Ashanti regions.
This policy, as laudable as it is, seemed not to have worked for some people as they keep indulging in galemasey eventually digging their own graves in collapsed tunnels.
Furthermore, some of these illegal miners are illiterates. Consequently, they unknowingly use hazardous methods to process their gold. Mercury, the chemical used to process gold, is poisonous yet; these miners handle it as if it were some piece of cake. It is quite perturbing to see these miners inhaling the vapour of mercury from archaic boiling pots to purify their gold. The painful truth about mercury is that, like fire, it is a good servant to help purify gold, but it can be a bad master with lots of health problems. When discard into streams, mercury builds up in fish consumed by locals. Mercury in humans can cause kidney problems, arthritis, loss of memory, miscarriages and psychotic reactions.
Between 2000 and 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that blood, urine, hair and nail samples provided by galamsey miners, as well as some of their wives and children, contained dangerously high levels of mercury.
Mercury had also found its way into the surrounding water supply, the vegetables grown at nearby farms, even into the atmosphere.
Moreover, one cannot turn a blind eye on the environmental vulnerability of illegal mining in the community and the country. Bulldozing the topsoil and trees, removing entire slopes, destroying streams and polluting groundwater are some of the environmental problems associated with illegal mining, which would be curbed if they are regulated.
Obviously the economic hazards outweigh the money these miners get. The trees felled will have to be replanted under very slow, expensive, time-consuming and tedious afforestation programs. Illegal mining destroys tarred roads as some of the manners inadvertently dig their tunnels into road networks. These roads normally need millions or billions of cedis to repair. The cost cannot be estimated.
To help curb theses challenges that illegal mining brings, galamsey miners could band together and buy a mining permit at a fixed price each year, allowing them to register with the government and have access to technology and advice that could improve their operations.
Registering also would force the small-scale miners to provide an environmental assessment plan, take responsibility for any environmental degradation and follow rules devised to minimize environmental impacts.
Also, the minerals that the illegal miners mine would be accounted for and most importantly taxed as is the case for the large scale mining. Currently, the galamsey operators sell their goods on the black market, with the state losing out on revenue.
Finally, illegal mining should be seen as a national problem and must be given the attention it deserves. Politicians should be brave to take bold decisions to save the country for future generations and not sacrifice what is good on the altar of political expediency. Having said that, it must be noted that, some people’s livelihoods depend upon galamsey, taking it away from them is equal to condemning them to eternal starvation. Such an action, if not well thought out, could bring crimes with them. Thus, the problem of illegal mining and miners should be debated upon in Parliament considering the employment capacity of between 10,000 to 15,000 it provides.
There have been several debates in the past with respect to the registration of illegal miners and making their activities legally bound. But these debates have not been fruitful due to the political trend it most often assumes.
The recent tragedy in Dunkwa-on-Offin, which resulted in the loss of about 80 lives after the mine collapsed, has resuscitated the debate again. Reports say the abandoned gold mine collapsed after heavy rains.
Galamsey, a Ghanaian lexical item for illegal mining, which used to be a covert operation, has spread from Obuasi to the Twifu-Hemang area in the western part of the country. The government’s attempts at providing water with a 59 million dollar project to the people in the Cape Coast municipality are being delayed because of illegal mining activities.
The River Pra, the main source of water supply for the project, has been polluted with chemicals that the illegal miners use to extract minerals.
It is becoming difficult for environmentalists to continue their fight for the people against the mining companies because the illegal miners are now possibly destroying the environment more than the companies. The latter are, after all, regulated.
The clandestine activities of galamsey bring in its wake economic, environmental, human, health and social problems to the society and the country as a whole.
Gold mining is the sector worst hit by the activities of illegal miners. Revenue from gold, which accounted for the highest proportion of total mineral revenue, dropped by 5.79% in 2007 compared to that of the first quarter of the previous year.
In January 2008, 37 miners were nearly killed when they were trapped underground for almost nine hours at the South African company Anglogold Ashanti’s mine at Obuasi. This happened because illegal miners interfered with electrical cables connected to the mine shaft.
Many wonder what could push an individual to such a life threatening engagement, not only to them but others. Social injustice is considered a major reason that forces people into such a deadly venture. All the major companies look at the regional capitals and the capital city when they are setting up. As a result, jobs are concentrated in the capital cities so people in the hinterlands are meant to find in ‘galamseying’ a gainful employer no matter how abhorrent this employer is.
Mention must also be made of the apparent accusations being leveled against mining companies in certain gold-rich communities like Obuasi, Prestea and Bogoso. Some galamseyers argue that their lands have been appropriated by mining companies and as they cannot farm, they must eat and hence, venturing into illegal mining. But some mining companies have taken upon themselves the policy of corporate social responsibility by which they are helping people go into agriculture as seen in the Western and Ashanti regions.
This policy, as laudable as it is, seemed not to have worked for some people as they keep indulging in galemasey eventually digging their own graves in collapsed tunnels.
Furthermore, some of these illegal miners are illiterates. Consequently, they unknowingly use hazardous methods to process their gold. Mercury, the chemical used to process gold, is poisonous yet; these miners handle it as if it were some piece of cake. It is quite perturbing to see these miners inhaling the vapour of mercury from archaic boiling pots to purify their gold. The painful truth about mercury is that, like fire, it is a good servant to help purify gold, but it can be a bad master with lots of health problems. When discard into streams, mercury builds up in fish consumed by locals. Mercury in humans can cause kidney problems, arthritis, loss of memory, miscarriages and psychotic reactions.
Between 2000 and 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that blood, urine, hair and nail samples provided by galamsey miners, as well as some of their wives and children, contained dangerously high levels of mercury.
Mercury had also found its way into the surrounding water supply, the vegetables grown at nearby farms, even into the atmosphere.
Moreover, one cannot turn a blind eye on the environmental vulnerability of illegal mining in the community and the country. Bulldozing the topsoil and trees, removing entire slopes, destroying streams and polluting groundwater are some of the environmental problems associated with illegal mining, which would be curbed if they are regulated.
Obviously the economic hazards outweigh the money these miners get. The trees felled will have to be replanted under very slow, expensive, time-consuming and tedious afforestation programs. Illegal mining destroys tarred roads as some of the manners inadvertently dig their tunnels into road networks. These roads normally need millions or billions of cedis to repair. The cost cannot be estimated.
To help curb theses challenges that illegal mining brings, galamsey miners could band together and buy a mining permit at a fixed price each year, allowing them to register with the government and have access to technology and advice that could improve their operations.
Registering also would force the small-scale miners to provide an environmental assessment plan, take responsibility for any environmental degradation and follow rules devised to minimize environmental impacts.
Also, the minerals that the illegal miners mine would be accounted for and most importantly taxed as is the case for the large scale mining. Currently, the galamsey operators sell their goods on the black market, with the state losing out on revenue.
Finally, illegal mining should be seen as a national problem and must be given the attention it deserves. Politicians should be brave to take bold decisions to save the country for future generations and not sacrifice what is good on the altar of political expediency. Having said that, it must be noted that, some people’s livelihoods depend upon galamsey, taking it away from them is equal to condemning them to eternal starvation. Such an action, if not well thought out, could bring crimes with them. Thus, the problem of illegal mining and miners should be debated upon in Parliament considering the employment capacity of between 10,000 to 15,000 it provides.
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