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Vetting of Lands and Natural Resources Minister-designate, Samuel Abu Jinapor, by the Appointments Committee of Parliament lasted pproximately two hours 30mins.
His time with the Committee saw him answering questions on topical issues like illegal small scale mining popularly known as “galamsey” in Ghana; problems associated with the forest reserves i.e. afforestation and deforestation; the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) among others.
Delving into the issues, galamsey, probably is the most topical. This is a problem that has created much discourse in the country for decades.
The activities of illegal small scale miners have left our water bodies heavily polluted with chemicals like mercury and some forest vegetations have been destroyed in the process.
People in these mining communities who depend heavily on these waters for domestic use have been disadvantaged.
The murkiness of the water alone is evident of the level of destruction the activities of the “galamseyers” have caused and continue to do to both human life and the environment.
It is nonetheless noteworthy that the Minister-designate has said he will be setting himself up for failure if he does not fight the menace.
With measures such as community mining in place, which he alluded to, the problem can be mitigated.
Last year the government gave opportunity to some miners to undergo training and to acquire license to engage in a regulated, responsible and sustainable mining under the Community Mining Programme (CMP).
It was geared towards reducing illegal small scale mining, formalising mining activities and also giving the miners training and official cover, according to Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, the Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation.
If the programme is implemented in a sustainable manner to ensure that miners are continuously trained and equiped with the prerequisite skills and knowledge, challenges faced today gradually will fade.
That said, not only are the vegetative covers removed from the soils of our land in the illegal mining activities. We are in a country where trees are continuously harvested without license and or proper documentation.
In a BBC report for instance, it was revealed that since 2012, approximately six million rosewood trees were illegally harvested and exported to China while bans on harvest and trade were in place.
The Minister-desinate’s solution to the problem is to reform the enforcement regime to look at illicit harvesting of the trees, particularly rosewood which is currently under ban.
Beyond that, he intends to engage the Forestry Commission to conduct an audit of the stocks of tree species the forests have and to have a plantation scheme that ensures that trees are immediately replaced once felled.
He also mentioned value addition, a mechanism he believes would reduce the illegal harvesting of the trees.
Under Mr. Jinapor’s Ministry- if he gets Parliament’s approval- is the Lands Commission.
In Ghana, there have been challenges with land acquisition and registration coupled the overbearing, intimidating and destructive behaviours of land guards.
His reaction to the problem is somewhat encouraging. He said the operations of the Lands Commission will be digitised for ease of access and will eliminate the involvement of land guards.
He will also implement Parliament’s act on Lands and Natural Resources, Act 1036, which he said “criminalises the phenomenon of land guards,” a solution if put in place would provide property owners and prospective land owners some security.
Still on the issue of lands, in 2017, a group of health workers and some residents of the La Kwantanang District demonstrated over encroachment associated with Pantang Hospital.
Mr. Kwaku Agyemang-Manu, the Minister-designate for Health noted that the problem is not faced by the Pantang hospital alone but other hospitals across the country. He told the Appointments Committee of his Ministry’s efforts to recover such lands lost to encroachers and the challenges they faced on February 10, 2021.
Mr. Jinapor, however, indicated that some of the lands have been recovered. He went on to tell the Committee of his plans to set up a multi-ministerial committee which includes the National Security, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to tackle the problem of land encroachment.
Many a time, politicians pay lip services to the people who vested their power in them. Ghanaians have had to deal with these problems for decades.
The question is if he gets the nod to become the next Minister— and the youngest to take on the responsibility —can Ghanaians vest in him their last vestige of hope to save their world, not oblivious of the fact that he will be held to his promises?
