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Gov't initiates alternative livelihood programme for galamsey operators

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu said the programme is looking at a “margin of not less than $10 million when it gets to its peak.”

___6574886___https:______static.pulse.com.gh___webservice___escenic___binary___6574886___2017___4___24___17___Galamsey

The Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP) is expected to last for five years.

Mr Amewu said the process to give the galamsey operator an alternative livelihood has started.

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“The process is ongoing. We have already started, we have already awarded contracts, we are talking to the small scale mining association, I am engaging them to start regrouping some of these guys, so it is an ongoing process.”

“What the project is going to do is to get these same factory hands who were previously engaged in this activity to together to come and work in an area that has been already explored. We are going to put in place a central processing plant for them where they will mine, and the ore from the mining will be passed through the processing plant and it will be for a fee,” the minister explained.

He added that government has also awarded contracts to some firms to start these mining exploration activities as part of the MMIP.

“Some mining companies are willingly relinquishing portions of their concessions to government. These concessions will be made available for small-scale mining. A typical example is Anglogold Ashanti which has allocated almost 60 percent of their concession to government,” he added.

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Mr Amewu during his visit to some mining sites in the Western region emphasised that the government was not against small-scale mining, but would rather want illegal miners to work in already explored and demarcated mining sites.

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