TAKE A SECOND LOOK AT MINING ACT (PAGE 31, JAN 26)

THE Ghana National Chamber of Mines has noted that the new Minerals and Mining Law, Act 703 (2006), does not adequately address the concerns of property owners who are affected by the activities of the mining industry.
It has, therefore, embarked on a research and advocacy project to help find lasting and mutually acceptable guidelines on compensation for affected property owners.
It said when that was done, it would eliminate rancour and litigation in the payment of compensation by the mining industry.
The move came out of observations made by the chamber that sections of the new Minerals and Mining Law were not specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound (SMART).
The research project is being conducted under the “Advocacy for the Establishment of Standards of Compensation in the Mining Industry” and is being jointly funded by the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) fund.
The new Minerals and Mining Law, previously known as the mining laws, prescribes compensation payments for land, crops and buildings which are affected by mining activities.
To solicit for public and stakeholder input into the formulation of a compensation policy, the chamber has been organising a series of regional workshops on validation and sensitisation on compensation in the mining sector.
Speaking at one of such workshops at Tarkwa in the Western Region, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ms Joyce Aryee, explained that the outcome of the workshops would help create a win-win situation for members of the chamber, as well as host communities.
That, she said, would ensure that persons whose assets were taken over by the state for mining activities would not be made worse off by the take-over.
“As already indicated, the chamber is open to recommendations that will enrich its push for the creation and adoption of a mutually beneficial compensation process,” she emphasised.
Ms Aryee further explained that the mining companies would no longer be vilified because property owners would understand that land had been acquired for them to undertake projects that would benefit the whole country.
A consultant and Assistant Researcher of AIDEC Consultancies International Limited, consultants on the research project, Mr Adu-Nyarko Andorful, said the solution to the compensation problem was to find out and understand the extent of the problem through research and devise a solution and also advocate the desired change.
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology, Professor Daniel Mireku-Gyimah, who chaired the function, noted that the chamber was dealing with a very important issue which would go a long way to develop the country.