The Member of Parliament (MP) for Amenfi East, Hon.Joseph Boahen Aidoo, said the complicated process of registering and licen­sing small scale mining entities in the country must be simplified and straightened.

"This way, the galamsey phenomenon can be eliminated, and the work of these artisanal miners can then be moni­tored and controlled by the state institutions, and they will be forced to com­ply with safety measures, pay taxes, and be engaged to undertake reclamation and re-vegetation," he said.

Hon. Boahen Aidoo was making a statement on the floor of Parliament, on the recent "Dompoase Galamsey Tragedy" in which over 15 women lost their lives while doing illegal mining.

He said the cost of prospecting is prohibitive, ranging between one million dollars and 10 million dollars and 10 million US dollars, which prospective Ghanaian gold-miners can­not afford.

Hon. Boahen Aidoo said it is because of these reasons that concessions are in the hands of multi-na­tional companies, while a few Ghanaians who have secured licences for small scale mining, were generally fronting for foreigners.

The MP said almost all the women who died when the pit caved in on them were single parents with two to five children, each to cater for.

He said two of the women were breastfeeding, and had always carried their babies strapped to their back, as they plied their trade in the pit," he said.

He said not only is galamsey outlawed but it is also the most hazardous way of making a living, adding that, in his constituency alone, there are over 5,000 people directly involved in galamsey.

In Prestea, he said they were estimated to be 20,000, and are in their numbers at Tarkwa Nsuaem, Telekubukazo in Nzema, Mpohor, Sefwi Juaboso, Bibiani, Obuasi, Konongo, Wa, Bole, and wherever gold is known to exist in the country.
The MP lamented that, as a nation, the country’s policies for job creation have not worked, and that people find themselves in the deadly galamsey venture out of desperation for jobs.

He said the "buyers" or masters of the galamsey business, who did not pay tax nor royalties, are the ones who profit.

"The stone diggers, crashers, grinders, wash­ers, and carriers, who per­form the menial jobs and risky tasks, take home very little," he said.

He said, when he complained against the use of eight, nine, ten, eleven, up to seventeen year olds engaged in the galamsey busi­ness by the "buyers" "I paid for it dearly in all the galamsey towns during the last general election’s.

The Member of Parlia­ment for North Dayi and Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, on a point of order, said it was the irresponsibility of men that led the women to become single parents and to engage in galamsey, risking their life and that of their children underground.

The MP for Sekondi, Paapa Owusu Ankomah, objected to Akua Dansua’s assertions and pointed out that, the women were not raped, but consented to have sex with the men add­ing that, some women even entice men to have sex with them.

Ghanaian Times
AA