Friday , March 29 2024

SMALL SCALE MINERS ASSOCIATION POSTPONE “ALL DIE BE DIE” DEMONSTRATION

Illegal mining (Galamsey), has for over the past month been an enemy to the current government and has since aim to fight against the act.

One group that has been affected greatly is the Small Scale Mining Association who have vehemently oppose the decision by the government since they claim not to have been operating ‘illegally’ but rather they have been given the license to operate in the country and in their quest to fight for their right, the Association have plans of embarking on an “All die be die” demonstration in the Ashanti Region.

In an interview on Pink FM this morning, a member of the Association, Michael Kwadwo Peprah stated that “There is a vast difference between small scale mining and galamsey” and that the government must not go to the extent of qualifying them as “illegal miners” and eventually stopping them from their operations.

He stated clearly that “we are willing to help the government get rid of galamsey operators in the country”.

To the media, he has edge that, they should stop painting the small scale mining activities “black” and possibly go to their sites and find out what really goes on there. Whereas the illegal miners are fond of damaging the various water bodies in their quest of getting the mineral, the small scale miners use excavators to get the mineral and hence do not cause any harm to the water bodies as claimed.

In answering to press release in line with their alleged postponement of their “All die be die” demonstration, Michael Peprah stated emphatically that “We have given the government two weeks to give us the green light to start our work”. He further explained that, their decision to postpone the demonstration is as a result of the fact that, they have been convinced by the minister for Lands and Natural Resource, Hon. Peter Amewu with an assurance from the government to attend to their plight.

To him, most of them have gone for bank loans to operate their mining activities and if the government tends not to pay heed to their request, they will have no other choice than to embark on their “All die be die” demonstration in the Ashanti Region and afterwards go back to their individual sites to operate with or without the permission of the government.

 

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