President Launches Community Mining Programme At Bawdie

Posted on 24th. July, 2019

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has launched Wassa Akropong Community Mining Programme at Bawdie in the Western Region.

The programme was meant to ensure that miners are engaged in sustainable and responsible mining to safeguard the environment and water bodies from destruction.

The president in his remarks reminded the people that it was his duty to protect public assets and considering the wide-spread menace of illegal mining on the environment and water bodies in the country, his government had to halt it immediately to roll out a well-thought-out strategy to ensure responsible and sustainable mining.

He dispelled the erroneous impression which was created by some people at the initial stages of the implementation of the measures taken to combat illegal mining that the government was against mining.

He said he was happy that the launch of the community mining programme attests to the facts that the government wanted the people to be engage in lawful mining activities that would bring in more money to transform their lives.

The chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng said the community mining programme was a local content programme meant for the indigenes and worn them not to bring in foreigners into the process.

 He said the Inter-Ministerial Committee would continue to monitor the activities of the community miners to ensure that the regulatory framework put in place was fully complied with by them.

 The Western Regional Minister, Mr. Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah also cautioned the public not to take the implementation of the community mining progrmme as the re-introduction of illegal mining in the communities.  

The Member of Parliament for Wassa Amenfi East Constituency, Hon. Kwame Bogyarko Saime disclosed that the first community mining programmes which was launched would employ 5,000 people with plans to implement the same programmmes in four other mining communities in the municipality.

He informed the people that the government was constructing 48 boreholes to ensure adequate water supply to the various communities which had no access to potable water as a result of illegal mining.

The Omanhene of Wassa Amenfi and President of Wassa Amenfi Traditional Council, Tetrete Okuamoah Sekyim II expressed the hope that the implementation of the community mining programme would restore the image of the traditional area which was labelled as the hub of illegal mining in the country.

SOURCE:   ISD