Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur has pledged government?s determination to tackle the problem associated with illegal mining operations in the country?s small-scale mining sector.
?The issue of illegal mining is not just a simple one of the origin of the people engaging in it. It is about the environmental impact of the activity on human beings. So whether a Ghanaian or foreigner is engaging in illegal mining, a problem is being created,? the Vice President said.
Speaking at the 5th congregation of the University of Mines and Technology at Tarkwa in the Western Region, Vice President Amissah-Arthur said the illegal mining activity has now become complex — involving the digging of river channels, diversion of rivers, stripping of surface soil, use of heavy equipment, and surface trenching.
?I have seen a report by apprehensive scientists on the consequences of illegal mining on water quality; water that is unsafe for domestic use and unhealthy to support fish and other aquatic life; of degraded land unable to produce food; pools of water serving as breeding sites for mosquitoes and child delinquencies,? the vice president said.
He said the health of people living within the illegal mining communities such as the one in which the university is located is a major concern to the government, pointing out that the mercury that is freely used to process gold is poisonous to humans and gets into the food chain when it accumulates in fish.
Vice President Amissah-Arthur expressed an urgent need to halt the devastation of the environment and reverse the destructive trend.
He urged the university to reach out to the local communities on the dangers of illegal mining, and to educate them on the best sustainable mining method to improve their efficiency and reduce the destruction already ongoing, and reverse the environmental damage.
The vice president commended the University for introducing compulsory courses in Basic French, Business Entrepreneurship, Principles of Economics, Management and Public Relations, saying that the courses, which constitute 20 percent of the university?s programme, will make UMaT graduates versatile in the job market both in Ghana and in neighbouring Francophone countries.
A total of 1,762 students from Ghana as well as neighbouring countries such as Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Mali and China graduated with first and post-graduate degrees as well as doctorate level ones.
Professor Jerry Kuma, the Vice Chancellor, said of the 382 graduating students two were awarded doctor of philosophy degrees; 17 were awarded Master of Science; and the remaining 363 received Bachelor of Science degrees in their respective engineering programmes, with 85 of them in the first-class division.
Prof. Kuma said during the 2012-2013 academic year, the university witnessed great strides in its traditional functions of teaching, research and service to the nation and international communities.
He said in its collective effort to produce qualified requisite skills, the university has made its programme a unique interface of academic and practical field work.
?This year, the university has been able to arrange field trips to the mining and allied industries for all students to acquire practical knowledge.
?From the next academic year, the university will begin a new four-year degree programme in environmental and safety engineering. The commencement of this course will solve the serious environmental challenges that the country is facing, especially in the small-scale mining sector,? he remarked.
The University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa, began as the Tarkwa Technology Institute in 1952. It was re-named the Tarkwa School of Mines and became a facility of the Kwame Nkrumah of Science and Technology (KNUST) in1976.
It was elevated to a University College in 2001 and became the 6th public university in Ghana. It is the only mining University in the West Africa sub-region and offers specialised programmes in mining and related disciplines, and provides technical expertise and innovation — which are critical needs of the Ghanaian economy.
By Ekow Essabra-Mensah
