Traditional rulers urged to help stop illegal mining
The South African High Commissioner to Ghana, Madam Lulama Zingwana, has noted that the wanton destruction of water bodies as a result of illegal mining (galamsey) operations is gradually affecting the country’s vegetation.
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She stressed that such nefarious activities posed irreparable damage to the communities and, therefore, appealed to traditional authorities in whose jurisdictions the operators plied their trade to put in place adequate measures to safeguard the environment.
Madam Zingwana, who made the observation when she paid a working visit to AngloGold Ashanti, operating the Iduapriem Mine at Tarkwa in the Western Region, however, commended the management for the various social investment initiatives it had rolled out in the host communities.
Dangers
‘‘There are dangers associated with illegal mining activities and so I call on all concerned, especially the chiefs, to ensure that the practice, popularly called galamsey, is abolished due to the dangers it poses to the environment and the people in the community,’’ she emphasised.
Addressing stakeholders and chiefs from the mine’s host communities, the High Commissioner expressed her country’s readiness to partner Ghana in her socio-economic development and also pledged that the cordial relationship between the two countries would grow stronger.
UMaT authorities/students
She also called on the authorities of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) and inspected some laboratories to see at first hand some mounted demonstration and research works undertaken by students.
Madam Zingwana encouraged the students to desist from all forms of social vices and rather concentrate on their education to enable them to become responsible persons in society such as Nelson Mandela and Kwame Nkrumah.
She pledged that her outfit would ensure that UMaT partnered some universities in South Africa with the view to enhance teaching and exchange of ideas in the area of mining, thereby producing more qualified graduates to service the mining industry.
The Registrar of UMaT, Mr Andrews Doku explained that as the only mining institution in the sub-region, the university had been able to train many qualified mining engineers, who were engaged in some reputable companies both home and abroad.
Prof. Newton Amegbey, on behalf of the university authorities, spoke bout the strong collaboration between AngloGold Ashanti and the university, acknowledging that the management of the mine had donated a number of items to the university that had contributed immensely towards teaching and learning.