Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has asked the Minerals Commission to do a serious introspection of it operations in the issuance of licenses for mining.
He said though the Commission has chalked up some success, it must also take responsibility for some of the excesses and the bad practices in the mining industry.
Speaking with staff of the Commission during a working visit, Mr Jinapor said the Commission must do a candid review and find out where it went wrong and try to correct them.
He said the ministry and its agencies cannot fail Ghanaians with the trust and confidence reposed in them.
The sector Minister said government is reviewing it approach in dealing with small scale mining, and called for the support of all to sanitize the sector.
The Lands and Natural Resources Minister urged stakeholders within the mining sector to support the Government to make Ghana the mining hub of Africa.
He urged management and staff of the Commission to as a matter of urgency support him and the government to make Ghana an attractive investment destination for mining in Africa and beyond.
The Minister indicated that the old ways of doing business as usual has become a thing of the past and appealed to the Commission to join forces with him and the Ministry to among others, solve the enormous challenges confronting the mining sector, especially the Artisanal small scale mining (ASM).
He reiterated that laws relating to local content will be strictly enforced to attract many locals into the mining space, particularly, community mining scheme and the small scale mining sector in general.
The Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commission Mr. Martin Ayisi pledged the Commission’s determination to work hard and help the Minister achieve his goals.
STORY BY: FELIX COFIE
