Chief Executive Officer for mining firm Golden Empire Legacy Limited, Mrs. Joana Gyan Cudjoe has appealed to government to immediately put a stop to burning of excavators in the crusade against illegal mining.
Mrs. Cudjoe has revealed some miners whose excavators have been burnt by the anti galamsey taskforce have committed suicide.
According to her such miners went for loans from banks to acquire equipment for legitimate small scale mining but lost such equipment to the fight. Lands and Natural Resources Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor has justified decision to burn excavators seized from mining sites by the taskforce arguing it is to serve as deterrent.
But speaking to Starr News after taking a group Turkish investors on a tour of her mining concessions at Agona Amenfi in the Western Region, Mrs. Joana Gyan Cudjoe stated members of the taskforce only extort money from the miners.
“I feel government needs to do a lot of work because when you look at the taskforce and people that they bring to the site, they actually come and collect money from the small scale miners. Afterwards, they bring another team to burn down machines of the miners and take their money. Some of these so called taskforce members are not even from the government command but fake individuals parading as members of the taskforce. They come in the name of government to extort monies from the miners.”
She contends government’s crusade against illegal mining is misdirected. Mrs. Cudjoe has therefore advised government to collaborate with small scale miners for a proper solution to the galamsey menace. According to her the ultimate solution lies with providing funds for the miners for acquisition of equipment for sustainable mining. Such a support she believes will go a long way to benefit the country’s economy.
“I feel if the government really wants to do this, they need to talk to people like us because we are experienced miners. We are on the ground and we are the right people to give them the right answers regarding what they need to know. It doesn’t cost anything to learn from us because you are not a miner. You are only a politician. If you are not a miner and you want to operate like a miner you make so many mistakes. So they should engage real miners both small and large scale.”
“Government is not put in place to kill people’s businesses and livelihoods. The people are also not just bent on doing illegal mining or galamsey. So I think we need to find a common ground to get better understanding of the situation. This will enable a proper structuring of the sector which will boost the economy of the country. There is more than 12,000 kilos of gold every month moving from Ghana and if you look at the gold that moves from Ghana every month, about 144,000 kilos of gold every year. Small scale miners control about 35 percent of gold industry in Ghana and the large scale miners control about 65 percent. So if you want to really develop the country, the inflows that we bring into the country, the dollars even structure the whole country’s economy,” She added.
Mrs. Cudjoe who is one of the leading gold exporters in Ghana also took on banks in Ghana for failing to stand up to the challenge of providing support to the small scale mining sector. She argues such a report will ensure crude methods of mining are stumped out of the sector.
“So I feel the banks in Ghana should be looking at the gold industry. Give the small scale miners loans. Help them to get a business plan, renew their licenses or apply for one for them. The banks in Ghana are supposed to help small scale miners. Nobody is willing to talk because they are afraid to talk. If you talk, it becomes a problem and they will tag them.” She stated.
The CEO for Golden Legacy Empire, passionately appealed to government to relook at the practice of burning excavators.
“I’m a small scale miner, I feel the pain, disgrace and the struggle that we go through because we take loans to pay 30 percent interest to the banks and all government can do to us is to burn our machines and excavators. It’s so sad. We even have bad roads in Ghana and these bad roads, the machines that you are burning can actually do these roads. So why can’t you use the machines? You look at your fellow human, in the name of God with the heart of men, to burn an excavator of 200 to 300,000 dollars and if you look at the thousands of machines they have burnt that cost more than 300,000 dollars per one, it runs into millions of dollars.”
”It’s hard, it’s so sad. And these are the things the leaders, the banks who even give the loans to us. So some of the affected miners have committed suicide. I know friends who have died because of this. They went for bank loans and the banks were attacking them for their money, calling them for the money. So it’s not the fault of the miners, just that the taskforce came here, took our machines, burning them. We asked them and they said the order is from the government. Please, we are pleading with you M. President, government, leadership stop burning the machines and find a proper solution for the small scale miners to help your country. Burning excavators is not a solution to illegal mining and it has to stop. We must stop.” She stated emotionally.
Mrs. Joana Gyan Cudjoe through her Golden Empire Legacy mining firm is embarking on a project to turn Agona Amenfi in the Amenfi Central Constituency into a gold hub. According to her, the project will see the establishment of a University, a gold Refinery, and construction of affordable Houses in the community where she hails from. The mining community just like all other mining communities in Ghana according to her has been neglected over the years leaving residents in abject poverty.