President urges communities to take advantage of mining
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the people, especially those in mining communities, to take advantage of a community mining scheme introduced by the government to develop their capacity in the industry.
“We believe that the participation by Ghanaians or people in mining communities will set us on a path to boost the rural economy and infrastructure development and also improve livelihoods through shared wealth,” he said.
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The President was speaking during the launch of three community mining schemes at Evalue-Gwira, Akango/Duale and Aboso, all in the Western Region, last Tuesday as part of his working visit to the region.
The schemes, launched at Evalue-Gwira, are expected to create about 2,000 jobs in the area, including Evalue-Gwira and Akango-Duale, while about 10,000 jobs are to be created at Aboso.
Scheme
President Akufo-Addo said as a responsible government, one of the measures it had instituted to deal with the menace of galamsey was the community mining scheme.
He explained that the initiative was aimed at encouraging responsible small-scale mining, in line with the Minerals and Mining Law, 2015, Act 703, in communities across the country.
He mentioned the damage caused by illegal mining to include the pollution of water bodies, land degradation, the non-reclamation of degraded lands and the use of dangerous chemicals such as mercury and cyanide.
“I was of the view, a view shared happily by majority of Ghanaians, that if we allow illegal mining to continue, we will be jeopardising our lives and the future of the country,” he added.
Sod cutting
The President also cut the sod for the construction of the Abosso Tailings project, a One-district, One-factory (1D1F) initiative being established to treat and process tailings waste to produce gold doré.
As part of the project, a gold processing facility is to be constructed within six months with a total capital outlay of some $12 million for the steady production of gold doré.
“The benefits of this project are both environmental and economic. It will introduce technology and safe working practices to small to medium -scale underground sites and rehabilitate contaminated sites for agricultural purposes and for development,” he said.
Within five years of the project, it will contribute approximately $1.35 million in royalties and $54,000 as small-scale mining sustainable levy to the government annually.
Cumulatively, a total amount in excess of $8.7 million will be contributed as corporate tax (CIT) over the five-year period.
President Akufo-Addo called for the cooperation and support of the chiefs and the people in the beneficiary.