Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, wants a non-partisan approach in dealing with the menace of illegal mining.
Mr. Jinpaor said politicising the fight against galamsey will not augur well for the state.
Speaking at the 40th-anniversary celebration of the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor says the fight against galamsey must go beyond politics.
“It requires collective action from all of us. Not just the President or his ministers but more importantly, traditional, local, political and all authorities at all levels as well as residents in these communities.”
“This fight must be above partisan politics. It must be a national fight, and it requires all of our collective effort to win this noble struggle of ours,” the minister said.
Abu Jinapor earlier indicated that it cannot be right if executives of the ruling NPP put their economic interest above the national and engage in galamsey.
NPP’s Ashanti Regional Minister popularly known as Chairman Wontumi came under severe criticism after it was discovered his Akonta Mining Company was engaging in illegal mining activities in the Tano forest in the Western Region.
Abu Jinapor who visited the site indicated that the company did not have a license to mine in the forest and has since directed the Forestry Commission to halt its operations in the forest immediately.
Wontumi has however denied the accusations that his company is into galamsey, insisting he has licence for large scale mining.
SOURCE theghanaianvoice