The Lands and Natural Resources Ministry allegedly spent over ten million dollars to organize a nationwide discourse on the government's war against small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey, according to the Minority in Parliament.
In response to the issues posed by illegal mining to the mining industry, the Ministry held a National Consultative Dialogue on Small-Scale Mining in Accra, Tamale, and Kumasi to gather views, proposals, and suggestions on how to address the threat of 'galamsey' in Ghana.
However, Alhassan Suhuyini, the Deputy Ranking Member on the Lands Committee, stated on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday that the budget for the dialogue is excessive, accusing the ministry of theft of funds.
The Ministry spent $2,140,000 on the national consultative conversation in Accra, another 3.7 million on the dialogue in the Northern and Middle Belt, and another 5.4 million on regional tours on illegal mining, according to the Tamale North MP.
"All of this, Mr. Speaker, adds up to more than ten conferences and dialogues, and this is a document from the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources during the consideration stage of the 2022 Budget Statement." Mr. Speaker, ten million dollars will be spent solely on conferences and discussions about how to combat Galamsey in this country. He inquired, "How does this affect the struggle against Galamsey?"
In a January appearance on GBC's Breakfast Show, Lands and Natural Resources Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor stated it will take more than a decade for Ghana to be free of 'galamsey.'
"We're still not out of the woods." We haven't yet reached a satisfactory point. We have not yet reached a point where we can confidently assert that we have a complete understanding of the subject of unlawful small-scale mining in our country.
"I'll be the first to confess that eradicating illegal scale mining from our country wouldn't take 4,5, 8, or 10 years," he remarked on the GBC Breakfast Show.
Despite the numerous problems created by illicit small-scale mining, Mr. Jinapor stated during the interview .