The Need to Regularise Activities of Illegal Small-Scale Mining in Ghana: A Focus on the Tarkwa-Dunkwa Highway*

Abstract

Southwest Ghana is a major gold producing region. The current high gold price has attracted hundreds of unemployed youth to undertake small-scale mining (SSM). Most of these miners operate illegally even though the SSM law (PNDCL) 218 of 1989 and Act 703 of 2006 define the procedures required for their operation. Some miners have brought their activities to a segment of the western highway that links southwest to central Ghana with serious environmental consequences envisaged. This paper argues that the laws that regulate SSM do not consider the fundamental setup and concerns of the small-scale miner, hence its inability to be effective. It is therefore proposed that the present requirement that a minimum of 21 hectares is necessary before land can be registered needs re-examination. Secondly, government needs to explore parcels of land and designate the workable areas to miners under a well structured scheme that will also educate these miners about safe and healthy mining methods.