Galamsey Is Simply Artisanal Mining, The Name Gives It A Negative Tag – Mahama Ayariga

Minister-designate for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Hon. Mahama Ayariga, has spoken about his long-standing relationship with small-scale mining and the need to address its root causes.

Appearing before Parliament's Appointments Committee on Thursday, August 27, Hon. Ayariga, a former Minister for Environment, Science and Technology, said his previous role made him very concerned about small-scale mining activities.

"I have a long standing relationship with small scale mining. If you recall in my previous life I was Minister for Environment, Science and Technology and so in that capacity I was very concerned about small scale mining activities," he said.

According to him, there is an issue of nomenclature when it comes to galamsey.

"I think there's also an issue of nomenclature. What we call galamsey is simply either artisanal mining or small scale mining activity, that's what we call galamsey. When we term it as galamsey it gives it a negative connotation," he stated.

Hon. Ayariga said the underlying cause of illegal mining is the difficulty young people face in acquiring legal permits.

"What are the underlying causes? The underlying causes really are that a lot of these young people who want to mine legally have difficulty obtaining the requisite permits to carry out the mining activity," he said.

He explained that because they operate without permits, they consider themselves illegal actors and fail to invest in safe and responsible mining.

"And because they don't have the requisite permits to carry out the mining activity they also consider themselves as illegal actors and because they are illegal actors, all the relevant or required investments to mine properly, safely and reclaim, they don't do it because they know that they have no right or title and it will be unsafe to make those investments. Otherwise many of them actually have the resources to make the investment," he added.