INCEPTION MEETING

On Thursday, May 5, 2022, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources' (MLNR) Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) held an inception meeting at the Cofkans Hotel in Obuasi to engage key stakeholders on the project operational districts and regions as part of sensitization and awareness creation on the deliverables of the GLRSSMP and also to devise a long-term and sustainable solution to illegal mining issues in the country.

The engagement provided an opportunity for the PCU and other implementation agencies to further explain project goals, core initiatives, and key activities that will occur in each project district and region. The Project Coordinator, Dr. John K. Krugu in his delivery, indicated that efforts are being put in place by the government to sanitise the Artisanal Small-Scale Mining (ASM) industry in the country. This will be enforced by requiring large and small-scale miners to adopt and use internationally approved, sustainable, and environmentally friendly mining procedures in order to reduce their environmental footprints as much as possible.

He also stated that the President Akufo-Addo-led government will bear the cost of mapping out areas with mineral deposits to prevent concessioners from destroying lands in the name of mineral exploration because most, if not all, lack the technical know-how.

Mr. Annan Benjamin, the Vice-Chairman of the Dunkwa Small-Scale Miners Association, expressed how beneficial the exploration mapping activity would be to them since it would cut exploration costs on the part of miners. He added that politicising the project would undermine its success and give small-scale miners no other option than to go back to their old harmful ways and therefore appealed to the team to be fair in the mapping out process.

Wilson Zoogah, the World Bank Environmental Specialist, during his session, emphatically stated that a well-structured gender redress mechanism has been put in place to assist and encourage individuals in mining communities to voice their concerns and recommendations without fear of reprisal. “The mechanism ensures the appropriate and mutually acceptable redress actions are identified and implemented to the satisfaction of complainants and avoids the need to resort to judicial proceedings,” he concluded.   

At the meeting, stakeholders' and beneficiaries' perspectives and expectations were solicited in order to inform proper project coordination and grievance redress mechanism.