A series of community engagements have commenced under the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP) to sensitise Chiefs and Residents about the benefits of cooperative mining.
The team began in the Western Region and made visits to Akropong, Bomoapelley, Anwia, Nkroful, and Esiama in the Ellembelle District.
This initiative is a part of the Government’s strategy to combat illegal mining and guarantee that communities receive direct benefits from the mineral resources found in their areas.
Engineer Frank Pedro Asare, the Coordinator of rCOMSDEP, clarified that cooperative mining is organized to guarantee ownership and fair benefit-sharing.
“Cooperative mining is to ensure that the communities own the mines and benefit from the mining. The revenue from the cooperative mining scheme will be shared to ensure long-term benefits for the Communities, with portions set aside for a development fund, land reclamation fund, and skills development and entrepreneurship fund,” he said.
He also emphasized the factors that contribute to illegal mining, mentioning that “the causes include mining without a mining lease and bad mining practices.”
He stressed that the cooperative mining framework prohibits mining in forest reserves and river bodies.
Engineer Asare emphasized the significance of securing community support, mentioning that rCOMSDEP is focusing on dialogue to prevent repeating previous errors.
“One of the problems that the community mining had was the lack of consultation. You go to a point where they will put up a signboard somewhere that they are going to do community mining, and the people will demonstrate. We want to avoid such situations. So we need to get the buy-in of the community,” he stressed.
In all the communities visited, the Chiefs welcomed the concept of cooperative mining and urged the Government to implement it more quickly.
They expressed hope that the initiative would generate employment for young people and lessen their participation in illegal mining.
Source: newsthemegh.com