Comply with our mining regulations or face sanctions-Peter Amewu

The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources John Peter Amewu has charged investors in the mining sector to do themselves good by complying with rules and regulations governing the sector.

According to him, they could be sanctioned if they flout the country's mining regulations.

He said the fact that Ghana had opened its doors to them to engage in mining activities shouldn't let them to think that they could do whatever they like.

Mr Amewu who was speaking to mining investors in Ghana on the sidelines of the African Downunder conference in Perth, Australia, intimated that government expect them to undertake their operations in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.

"For instance if you're asked to go through your environmental permit...If the law says it is going to take you about 30/300 days to finish that there are reasons why we want it to be so.

"Most often companies are given licenses to do the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) processes and other activities without the necessary gazette. But these companies goes from one state to another and do publication...But the law for instance says you must gazette before you do publication," he said.

Touching on the controversial Nyinahini Bauxite concession granted Exton Cubic, Mr Amewu justified government decision to revoke the license granted to the company by previous administration.

“The processes leading to the grant of the license were not quite clear and were not transparent, very opaque. So it called for a lot of questions. We believe that if the processes had taken time and the duration for the various permits were within the framework, this issue wouldn’t have come out.”

“There are processes and durations that one needs to pass through. If for some reason, one has to go beyond those processes that will not be an acceptable permit at all. We want to do it within the regulated format,” the Minister said.

In a related development, the Managing Director of Precious Minerals Company Limited (PMMC) Mr. Opare Hammond also dismissed claims by some Australian mining investors that Ghana is fond of imposing many restrictions on foreigners who want to acquire Entry Visas into the country.

Mr Hammond, who described as absolutely unfounded claims by the Australian investors said the country has the most friendly visa application regime, stressing that Ghana is always ready to explore business opportunities for the welfare of its people.

Story By: Stephen Kweku Ofosu

#Latestinghana #Politics #Headlinesnews #News