The ad hoc ministerial committee set up by the President to address illegal mining in the country has assured members of the public that a lasting solution will be found to tackle the challenge head-on.This followed a crunch meeting with Organised Labour on Tuesday, which the Minister of Information, Fatima Abubakar, described as "very fruitful and encouraging."The almost three-hour meeting was attended by the Minister of National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah, who leads the committee; Lands and Natural Resources Minister, Samuel A.
Jinapor; Defence Minister, Dominic Nitiwul; Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions Minister; Ignatius Baffour Awuah, and the Information Minister.Although the meeting was held behind closed doors, a highly placed source told the Daily Graphic that representatives of Organised Labour reiterated previous demands to tackle the galamsey menace, which included a ban on all forms of small-scale mining, declaration of a state of emergency, and reforms to some mining laws."The Ministers of National Security, Lands and Natural Resources, as well as Defence, took turns to provide updates on the current situation on the galamsey fight and some measures by the government; and we hope that a united position will be reached on the way forward soon," the source said.The source added that a compelling case was made for the government and other stakeholders to work together as partners to help address the galamsey scourge.Fruitful meetingWhen the Daily Graphic spoke to Information Minister for details of the discussions at the meeting, she said once the engagements were still ongoing, she did not want to jump the gun by putting out every bit of the discussion.However, Ms Abubakar said the ad hoc committee and representatives of Organised Labour had frank engagements devoid of uncompromising positions.
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