Alhassan Suhuyini’s claims are false and misleading – MLNR
By Samuel Nyigmabo
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has debunked claims by the Member of Parliament for Tamale North, Hon. Alhassan Suhuyini that the ministry expended GH£ 10 million on ten conferences and dialogues in the fight against galamsey.
The MP on the floor of parliament on Tuesday, March 5 alleged that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources under the auspices of Hon. Samuel Abu Jinapor has spent a woeful GH£ 10 million on ten conferences and dialogues in the fight against galamsey in 2021.
According to the MP, the ministry spent GH£ 2 million on dialogues in Accra, GH£3.7 million on dialogues in the northern and middle belt, and GH£5.4 million on regional tours.
“Mr. Speaker, what is interesting is that it cost the taxpayer GH£ 2,140,000 to organize National Consultative Dialogue in Accra, the Regional Dialogue on Small Scale Mining for the northern and middle belt come up to GH£3.7 million. The regional tours that were engaged in by the minister and his appointees cost the taxpayer GH£5.4 million”.
“All of these put together, Mr. Speaker we are talking about more than ten conferences and dialogue and this is a document from the Ministry of Lands and Natural ResResources during the consideration stage of the 2022 budget statement”, he said.
The ministry in a statement released on Thursday, March 7 refuted the claims and said they lacked factual bases.
In the statement, the ministry stated that it organized a two-day national consultative dialogue at the Accra International Conference Center on April 14th and 15th 2021, and two regional dialogues in Kumasi and Tamale that brought together stakeholders from across the country to agree on a 15-point non-partisan resolution to the impasse including similar dialogues in all the 16 regions.
“In addition to the dialogues, the Ministry undertook a working visit to all the sixteen (16) regions of our country, where we engaged various stakeholders to solicit their support to fight illegal mining”, the statement added.
The statement furthered that Ministry funded all regional security councils, set up a Monitoring and Evaluation team, and launched a National Alternative Employment and Livelihood Pogramme (NAELP) all in an effort to clamp down on illegal mining and provide alternative sources of livelihood to the affected persons.
The ministry added that it created an award scheme to reward and encourage responsible small-scale mining in the country.
” The ministry also, in partnership with the Ghana National Association of Small Scale Miners (GNASSM), introduced a Small Scale Miners Award Scheme, to reward and encourage responsible and environmentally-sound small scale mining”, part of the statement reads.
The ministry explained that all of these programs and many others form part of the cost of the expenditure in the fight against galamsey and not as reported by Hon. Alhassan Suhuyini.
The statement concluded that the appropriate agencies charged to audit the ministry’s accounts shall at the right time do their work and take action if they are found culpable.
