Illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) remains a challenge and continues to pose a threat to our very survival, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

The menace, he said, ought to be tackled head on given its devastating effects on the environment as well as the livelihoods of the people.

“We cannot rest while these illegalities still persist,” President Nana Akufo-Addo noted when he addressed the opening session of the Graphic Stakeholders’ Dialogue in Accra on Thursday.

The two-day programme is being held on the theme: “Harnessing our Natural Resources Responsibly for Sustainable Collective Good”.

President Nana Akufo-Addo said between 2017 and 2021, some progress had been made in the fight to bring to the barest minimum illegal small-scale mining in all forms through various measures by the Government, including a total ban on the practice.

“Our situation would have been worse off, if we had not adopted these measures,” he noted.

The President affirmed the Government’s resolve to continue to dialogue with stakeholders to address the issues.

He bemoaned Africa’s inability to harness its vast and rich natural resources for the benefit of the people, saying: “Africa still holds some 30 per cent of the world’s mineral reserves”, stressing that with the abundant resources, the continent should have been better off than where it found itself now.

However, the continent, especially mineral-rich communities in sub-Saharan Africa still wallowed in abject poverty, the President lamented.

He cited communities such as Wassa, Tarkwa, Obuasi, Prestea and Bibiani, all in Ghana, whose living conditions had not improved much in spite of the numerous years of mining.

He said the time had come for leaders on the continent to work assiduously in ensuring that mining companies paid communities in which they operated the royalties due them.

It was also important that the mining communities were supported to develop their social amenities to an appreciable standard to enhance their living conditions.

Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, advocated the sustainable management of the country’s natural resources.