The Government has launched nine responsible cooperative mining sites as part of a new strategy to curb illegal mining (galamsey) while creating sustainable jobs in mining communities.

This was disclosed by the Acting National Coordinator of the Responsible Cooperative Mining and Skills Development Programme (rCOMSDEP), Siddiq Sheihu, in an interview explaining the programme.

According to Mr. Sheihu, the initiative is a direct response to President Mahama's campaign promise to tackle illegal mining through a responsible and sustainable alternative.

He explained that previous alternatives such as offering illegal miners jobs in driving, tailoring and other trades failed because the financial returns from illegal mining were far higher.

"The best alternative is to make them do it legally, so they can still work and get what they are getting," he said.

Mr. Sheihu noted that the sector Minister, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, after reviewing the old community mining model, identified major flaws. 

The new “Responsible Cooperative Mining” concept seeks to correct that.

"We will make sure that it is community owned, community managed and community controlled," Sheihu stressed. 

He added: "The community feels like it belongs to them."

He listed the stakeholders to include chiefs as custodians of the land, farm owners, youth, assembly members and all relevant community leaders with profits shared among them including investors.

Beyond mining, the program has a livelihood empowerment component where the youth who do not want to mine are trained in various vocations and equipped with tools to work.

Mr. Sheihu expounded that the government intends to launch 72 cooperative sites before the end of this year. 

The nine already launched, he noted, can each employ about 1,000 people directly and many indirect jobs.

"When you have about 500 people working at one place, they need to eat. People will come there to sell water, food...They all benefit," he said.

The 72 sites will cover all 13 mining regions including Ashanti, Eastern, Savannah, Upper West, Upper East, Western and Western North. 

The phase two of the project will begin next year.

Sheihu believes this approach will drastically reduce the galamsey menace because miners will migrate voluntarily to legal sites.

"When they realize nobody is chasing them, NAIMOS is not disturbing them, they will migrate. But when you arrest them and they don't have an alternative, they will come back when you are not there," he stated.