Government will soon roll out a system that will track all earth moving equipment in the mining industry in a bid to monitor their impact on the environment.
This is expected to commence after process of classifying activities in the mining sector is completed.
President John Mahama who disclosed this explained that the reclassification will also deepen regulation in the mining industry.
The President, who made the announcement at the inauguration of Gold Coast Refinery in Accra , also indicated that the development will save the country huge losses due to adverse environmental impacts from mining.
“It is our intention to identify and register all earth moving equipment that is deployed in the sector so that we can ameliorate some the damage that is being done by these equipments,” he said.
He pointed out that even though the mining sector has contributed significantly to the economy, it has created some challenges that require pragmatic measures to address.
“The mining sector today is contributing 14 percent of government’s gross domestic revenue, according to the Domestic Tax Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, the growth in the sector has however not being without cost,” he said.
“The major cost has been in the environmental damage, resulting from mining activities,” he lamented adding that activities in the sector need to balanced with environmental concerns to preserve it.
He disclosed that government has already commenced a reclassification exercise to improve monitoring and supervision in the mining sector to enhance productivity.
“We have put in place a number of policies and enacted laws and regulations which we are confident will make mining in this country more sustainable. We are in the process of reclassifying mining and separating medium scale mining from small scale artisanal mining. This new classification will improve monitoring and supervision of the sector,” he noted.
The Gold Coast Refinery
The refinery, which is a Public Private Partnership, is expected to refine an annual quantity of gold and other precious minerals of up to 180 metric tonnes.
It is also expected to provide about 300 and 1200 direct and indirect jobs respectively.
–
By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
