The Minerals Commission of Ghana has been urged to supervise the activities of small and large scale miners, whose work poses economic problems for the people living in their operational communities. Mr. Alfred Ekow Gyan, Western Regional Deputy Minister, who made the appeal, said some of the miners only had either exploratory or prospecting licenses, yet they were doing real mining at the expense of local farmers, whose farmlands are being destroyed by their activities.

He said visits to some of the mining communities, shows how the livelihood of the people had been totally destroyed because the commission had licensed these miners without supervising them. Mr. Gyan was speaking at the Second Western Regional Natural Resource Summit, organised by the Regions Development Network of NGOs, with sponsorship from STAR-GHANA.

He said over 250 excavators imported into the Region for illegal mining had been seized, adding that, If we do not change our attitude, there would be nothing left for posterity. The Deputy Minister said the mining companies fail to liase with the district assemblies in providing some development relieve, under their corporate social responsibility.

Mr. Kwame Mensah, Director of Western Region Development Network of NGOs said a research conducted by the Network revealed the untoward difficulty in the area of accommodation, water and other social amenities.

GNA