Former Central Regional Minister Kweku Ricketts-Hagan has charged government to ban all forms of small-scale mining for at least 10 years.

He was of the view that illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, is thriving in the country due to the issuance of small-scale licences. Even though small-scale mining is legal and reserved for Ghanaians, he observed that galamsey had become an offshoot of small-scale mining.

For him, it was time government placed an ultimatum for at least a decade when the lands and water bodies destroyed by galamsey would have recovered and a more comprehensive solution implemented to prevent further harm to the environment.

“This small-scale mining, is it something that we should encourage in the first place? ...Could we bring an end to this thing for some number of years?…Let’s do a ban for about 10 years,” he told Umaru Sandah, host of Citi FM’s The Big Issue, on Saturday, May 27.

He was of the view than a plan should be drafted to integrate individuals involved in the practice into other jobs.