Natural Resource Dialogue: Gov’t will implement recommendations after study of Report

Accra-Ghana, May 17, GNA – Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Tuesday received the Report on the Natural Resources Stakeholders Dialogue, organised by the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL), and said the Government will carefully study it and implement the recommendations.
Mr Ato Afful, the Managing Director of the GCGL, presented the Report to the Minister at a brief ceremony in Accra.
The Minister applauded the GCGL Team for bringing up a timely programme, which had been unanimously applauded by various stakeholders in the country, describing the dialogue as a major success.
“We at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources are extremely grateful for the leadership you have shown and for putting together such an important stakeholders dialogue to build consensus around national issues,” he said.
Although the discussions were productive and comprehensive, it should not end at that level, however, it was critical to narrow down to specific issues, Mr Jinapor said.
He cited, for instance, the issue of restricting small-scale mining to only underground mining in order to prevent environmental degradation, which should be a topic for discussion and critically examined by all stakeholders.
He said due to the consequential nature of issues concerning mining, it was prudent to organise more of such dialogues to scrutinise those specific issues.
He expressed the hope that the strong ties and collaboration between the Ministry and the GCGL would continue as they worked together for the collective good of the citizens.
Mr Afful, on his part, said the dialogue was intended to have a broad consensus and get stakeholders to agree on a pathway for managing the country’s natural resources.
He expressed the conviction that the Report would help build a timetable to follow through the implementation of some of the key recommendations of the dialogue.
He assured the Minister that he would make copies available to the Ministry’s agencies to ensure meaningful and sustainable management of the country’s natural resources.