•Mr Gong Jianzhong (2nd left), Ambassador of China to Ghana, delivering his speech during a press conference organised by the Chinese government delegation in Accra. Picture: EDNA SARKODIEThe Chinese government has pledged its full support to the Government of Ghana in its clampdown on illegal small-scale miners in the country.
After despatching a delegation to Ghana on a fact-finding mission which involved discussions with the government and security officials, as well as visits to some mining sites to ascertain the situation on the ground, the Chinese government says it appreciates the resolve of the Mahama administration to deal with the ‘galamsey’ menace.
It, however, appealed to the government to undertake the anti-illegal mining exercise in a humane manner and protect the lives and property of Chinese nationals caught up in the clampdown.
“We are doing our best to stop illegal mining by Chinese nationals in Ghana. We are opposed to any illegal activity done by Chinese in Ghana,” the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Gong Jianzhong, said at a news conference in Accra yesterday.
The essence of the news conference was to brief journalists on the outcome of the visit by the eight-member Chinese government delegation to engage government officials in talks aimed at finding a lasting solution to the involvement of Chinese nationals in illegal small-scale mining.
The delegation is made up of officials from the Chinese ministries of Foreign Affairs; Commerce, and Public Security.
It was led by Mr Qui Xue Jun, Deputy Director-General, Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This is the second time the Chinese government has sent a delegation to Ghana, after a similar delegation visited the country last March, in an effort to find an amicable solution to the involvement of Chinese nationals in illegal small-scale mining.
Ghana was one of the first sub-Saharan African countries to establish diplomatic relations with China more than five decades
ago, and since then the relations between the two countries have been cordial. Indeed, they have blossomed on all fronts.
However, the invasion of the country’s mining fields by thousands of Chinese and other foreign nationals to engage in illegal small-scale mining, beginning from 2006, and the recent resolve by the Mahama administration to clamp down on the menace appeared to have shaken the foundation of the cordial relations between the two countries.
Whereas many Ghanaians were angered by the wanton destruction of the environment as a result of the activities of illegal foreign miners, some Chinese nationals back home were agitated by reports of their kinsmen being maltreated in the anti-illegal mining crusade, as a result of which they hit the streets in protest, calling on the Chinese government to intervene.
After taking an aerial view of and visiting some mining sites and rivers Pra and Offin, the Chinese delegation said it could now appreciate the enormity of the problem, as members were confronted with the extent of environmental degradation caused by the illegal miners.
It, therefore, pledged to collaborate with the Ghanaian authorities to address the problem.
One of the interventions with which the Chinese government is seeking to address the issue is the translation of Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) into the Chinese language and posting same on the government’s website.
Mr Gong said the Chinese government always encouraged Chinese nationals abroad to abide by the laws of their host countries, adding that its embassy in Accra had issued a notice on its website calling on Chinese nationals in Ghana to abide by the laws of the country.
For his part, Mr Qui said many of the illegal Chinese miners who came to Ghana were farmers who did not have any knowledge about the country, and so the fact that they could be found in remote parts of the country meant there were local collaborators involved in the illegality.
He, therefore, stressed the need for the two countries to take a holistic view of the issue and tackle it from the roots.
Having pledged its support to help address the problem, the Chinese delegation called on the government to protect the lives and property of Chinese illegal small-scale miners who would be arrested and facilitate their repatriation home.
By Kofi Yeboah