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The Government of Ghana has cancelled the Emergency Visa or Arrival Visa for Chinese nationals as part of the fight against illegal mining.

The Emergency Visa policy was introduced by the Ghana Immigration Service to cater for visitors and businessmen and women who travel at short notice from countries where Ghana has no mission or consulate.

The policy authorises visas to be granted on arrival at the airport or other entry points subject to satisfaction of specific immigration requirements. This policy has been abused, with many Chinese nationals taking advantage of it to come to Ghana to engage in illegal mining activities, popularly known as galamsey.

According to the the Minister of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr Kofi Dzamesi, the Arrival Visa privilege for Chinese nationals has been cancelled.

“The Chinese nationals come to the country to engage in galamsey, they defaecate into our rivers and pollute our rivers through illegal mining, But now, the Arrival Visa which the former government granted the Chinese has been cancelled, so if you are a Chinese national and you come to Ghana without visa, you will go back to your China land.

“After all when we go to China, they don’t give us Arrival Visa, so why should we give them Arrival Visa? Arrival Visa has been cancelled. Any Chinese who wants to come to Ghana should go to Beijing, to Ghana’s Embassy, to apply for visa so that we scrutinise why that person wants to come to Ghana.”

This was made known by Mr Dzamesi at a durbar organised for chiefs in galamsey-prone areas at the Kwahu Mpraeso Traditional Council hall yesterday in the Eastern Region as part of his tour of the region.

The Minister said the government, through the inter-ministerial committee, had outlined measures to intensify the fight against illegal mining in the country.

Mr Dzamesi also revealed that the committee had recommended the inclusion of Google Search Map in the digital search system which was recently launched by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to help locate miners who work at night, while a team of trained Navy officers would also be dispatched to patrol all the river bodies in the country.

He also revealed that illegal mining areas would be prioritised when implementing the ‘One District-One-Factory’ policy to create enough jobs for the people.

Speaking on issuance of licensing mining companies, Mr Dzamesi said the government had tasked all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives to form a committee with the chiefs to approve or disapprove licences awarded by the Minerals Commission.

He also said the government had already trained 300 small-scale miners at the Tarkwa School of Mines and 300 other people on how to do proper mining without the use of mercury.

He, therefore, called on all chiefs to embrace and help the President curb the menace to protect the land for the country’s future generations.