The Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Gregory Andrews, has said the emphasis on ending illegal small scale mining (Galamsey) in the country is impressive.

He said this when he had a meeting with Minister for the Savanna Region, Mr Saeed Muhazu Jibril last week while at Mole National Park to launch the Australian aid project there

After the meeting, he wrote on his Facebook page that he “caught up with Minister for the Savanna Region, the Hon Saeed Muhazu Jibril this week while at Mole National Park to launch our Australian aid project there.

“In addition to our discussion on elephant conservation and anti-poaching, I was impressed with his emphasis on ending illegal mining, tree-cutting and charcoal production, all of which cause significant damage to Ghana’s environment.”

Recently, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor has noted all the past sector ministers had problems fighting illicit small scale mining (Galamsey) because supporters of the incumbent party and other big wigs were fighting against the process.

He indicated that if given the nod to become the sector minister, he will apply the law without fear or favour in order to nip this practice in the bud.

He said this during his vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, February 24.

“In every dispensation, when you’re rolling out policies, especially dealing with intricate sectors such as small-scale mining, you’ll have problems."

“I have taken time to study a lot of literature and noted that all the previous ministers encountered lots of challenges. You’ll often have party people and lots of big wigs fighting against the process,” the Damongo lawmaker told the committee.

He added, “I agree that you will often have people in your own party and chiefs trying to frustrate the [fight against illegal mining] but I want to give a firm assurance that if I get the approval of Parliament, I’m moving in there with all humility and modesty to apply the law without few or favour.”