Dear Editor,
The rambling response from the GGMC (KN, Dec 12) must be welcomed in a country where there is a scarcity of transparency and accountability. Sadly they failed to address the real issues facing the country and the protection and securing of the country’s natural wealth for the benefit of its citizens.
The GGMC claimed that their emphasis is on “Lawful and responsible mining” (KN, Dec10). The claim was not backed up by any real, convincing facts, and readers are expected to take their claim as a fait accompli. Hiding in their bureaucratic tower, they provided no statistical or demographic accounting of what is actually taking place on the ground. They admitted that there are “breaches of mining regulations” but that this did not necessarily make it “illegal.” This adds to the dilemma and the use of the GGMC’s own hollow-value judgments being glibly applied, when the future of country’s greatest natural wealth is at stake.
The GGMC is also in conflict with statements made by the GGDMA. Terrence Adams, Secretary to the GGDMA, has confirmed that “Illegal mining is now endemic in the mining industry, with no end in sight” (SN, Nov 27) and that illegal mining is creating an environment where only the bullies survive in mining, and the country suffers.
The Commission apparently has no role to play in the security and protection of mining, and they dismissed this concern by saying, “gold sales, declaration and smuggling will require a broader approach that goes beyond the ambit of the GGMC.”
Yours faithfully,
Mac Mahase
