I’ll fight galamsey using AI if elected president – Mahama
The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has vowed to wage a relentless war on illegal mining activities using Artificial Intelligence (AI) if he is elected president come December 7 general elections.
Speaking as the guest of honour at the 3rd Annual Transformational Dialogue on Small-scale Mining at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani, Mr Mahama said his administration will use “AI to locate all small-scale mining and galamsey operations, track excavators, and geofence all concessions” to organize and oversee operations in the small-scale mining industry in order to lessen the harm done to the environment.
The NDC Flagbearer also disclosed that a special fund will also be established to help provide a pool of mining equipment for sustainable exploitations in mining communities.
“A special revolving fund will be established with the private sector to provide capital and a mining equipment pool in each district where gold mining is prevalent. This will facilitate easy and affordable access to relevant mining equipment.”
According to the former president, the Ghana Mining Excellence Centre (GMEC), which would be run by UENR and UMaT [University of Mines and Technology], will help his government fulfill its promise.
“To support all these brilliant initiatives and ensure that we are implementing them as best as possible, I have announced the launch of a Ghana Mining Excellence Centre (GMEC), to be run initially for five years and which will be coordinated by UENR and UMaT.
“As I have envisioned it, the Centre will collaborate with scientists from other universities worldwide to implement joint research and innovation projects that will simulate green growth within the Ghanaian mining and minerals industry.”