Seidi (Ash), Aug. 17, GNA – Parents at Seidi, a mining community in the Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality of the Ashanti Region, have been sensitised on the need to protect their children from the dangers associated with mining.
They must prioritise keeping their children in school rather than allowing them to engage in mining as a way to contribute to the livelihood of the family.
Madam Lucy Afari-Yeboah, a representative of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, who gave the advice, said the first obligation of parents in mining communities was to protect their children from exposure to the harmful enterprises.
At a sensitisation forum on the implications of using children in mining activities and how best to curb the menace, she reminded parents about the Children’s Act and its expectation of parents in protecting their children.
The forum, on the theme, “The Use of Children in Mining: Legalities and Implications on Health, Environment and Education”, was funded by the Global Greengrants Fund.
It was attended by traditional leaders, assembly members, unit committee members, teachers, parents, and school children.
Madam Afari-Yeboah reminded participants that children were protected from engaging in any income generating activity under the Children’s Act and cautioned parents to desist from pushing their children into mining in the name poverty.
She said children’s right to education was guaranteed under Section 94 of Act 560, and counselled parents to strive to educate their children as stipulated in the Act.
“Allowing children to fend for themselves at a tender age is a violation of their rights and must not be encouraged, especially in mining communities where they could be exploited,” she said.
She advised the children to also stay in school to secure a brighter future, adding that visiting mining sites would not only truncate their education but expose them to health risks.
Dr David Adu-Poku, Senior Lecturer, University of Energy and Natural Resources, said although mining improved the local economy it was a source of several social vices.
He said mining communities, particularly where illegal mining thrived, had over the years had challenges with health, education, and the environment due to the unregulated activities of perpetrators.
There was a seeming mismatch between development and mineral revenue with host communities becoming perpetually impoverished, Dr Adu-Poku said.
Even more disheartening, he said, was the high level of unemployment among the locals due to the highly skilled labour force mostly required by mining firms.
“The youth in such areas, faced with limited opportunities, are compelled to go into illegal mining, using unorthodox methods to extract the precious minerals with its attendant health risks.”
That was because they felt cheated and could not watch on as their minerals were taken away while they lived in abject poverty, he said.
Dr Adu-Poku bemoaned the health, environmental, and socio-economic cost left in the trail of mining activities and called for stringent measures to address the perennial problem.
Mr Godfred Yeboah, the Head Teacher of Seidi M/A Basic School, expressed grave concern over truancy among pupils in the community due to their involvement in mining.
He said it was common for some pupils to skip school to go to mining sites to make money, a situation that was adversely affecting academic work, and appealed to stakeholders, especially parents, to help stop the phenomenon in the interest of their children’s future.
GNA