NPP's Yaw Buabeng Asamoah Calls For A National Debate On Small Scale Mining

A member of the New Patriotic Party communication team, Yaw Buabeng Asamoah has called for a national debate on small scale mining as a way out of the �galamsey� menace. According to him, a conscious effort to brainstorm for possible solutions with all stakeholders on board is a sure way of eliminating illegal mining, which has proven perilous to lives and the environment. The legal practitioner who doubles as an NPP communicator was of the view that the formation of task forces just for the purpose of making arrests would not solve the problem if a holistic approach is not adopted. Lawyer Buabeng Asamoah made these comments on Metro TV�s �Good Morning Ghana� programme, following the arrest of sixty foreigners for allegedly indulging in illegal mining. They were arrested by the operations team of the Inter-Ministerial Task Force on illegal mining in a special operation code-named �Operation Halt,� as part of efforts to check illegal mining in the country. Among the suspects are six Russians, forty-one Nigeriens, two Togolese and a Nigerian. However, the NPP man maintained that, this arrest is only a minute aspect of a complete solution to the problem of illegal mining in the Ghana and further suggested for a stake holder meeting for a complete restructure of the industry.