The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor, yesterday held a productive meeting with the new Acting Director General (DG) of the Ghana Geological Survey Authority (GGSA), management and staff to formally introduce the new Director General to the staff.
In a constructive engagement held with management and staff at the premises of the GGSA, the Minister congratulated the new DG, Mr. Isaac Nwimbelle, and assured him of his utmost support.
He said he was motivated to call on the Director General and his staff due to the central and important mandate the Authority held in helping the Ministry deliver on its key objectives and achieve success.
“The first reason is to underscore the centrality of the GGSA to the work of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
There cannot be a mining industry fit for purpose without a strong Geological Survey Authority. The mandate of the GGSA is the main prerequisite to an effective mining industry in Ghana. If you fail, the mining sector will fail,” he said.
For the GGSA to effectively discharge its mandate and propel the Ministry to accomplish its set objectives, Samuel A. Jinapor said it must first undergo total reformation and revamping.
He, thus, asked the Acting Director-General and the management to team up with the Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, to put together a blueprint that detailed the plans and interventions of the GGSA rejuvenation.
“I want the Acting Director-General and the management to work closely with my Deputy in charge of Mines, Hon. Mireku Duker, to produce a blueprint for the revamping of the GGSA.
The acting DG has given indications of some of the things we can do to revamp and reform the Authority, but I think we should produce it on a well-structured basis.
It is my thinking that 30 days from today, a team will be put together to generate a comprehensive blueprint to indicate the various interventions required to make GGSA effective again,” he pointed out.
Whiles assuring the new DG of his unwavering support, Abu Jinapor urged him and his management to explore other creative means of raising funds to support the authority and its related activities.
“There is a new Acting DG who, obviously, seems to have plans on moving the Authority forward; he will have my support and that of the Ministry. The involvement of the private sector is quite important.
“To what extent can we collaborate with the private sector to conduct geological investigations in respect of certain minerals for which when the mineral is discovered, they’d enjoy certain profits,” he continued
Mr. Isaac Nwimbelle used the visit of the Minister to also outline his vision for the entity, which included branding and sensitising Ghanaians on their key roles.
He also mentioned plans to improve on the GGSA’s revenue generation system, while outlining some steps being taken to achieve that.
“We want to rebrand the Authority and also make our activities publicised and known to the entire population. The major thing is to look at how we can improve on our revenue generation. In view of that, we have lined up a number of things we want to do.”
He added that one key thing was to retool the Authority, in terms of getting equipment and laboratory tools. “That will give us the opportunity to intensify our revenue generation drive.
“We also want to get our LI passed into law so that we can have the mandate to do a number of things.
“Again, we are currently thinking reviewing Act 928. It doesn’t give us enough power to do what we want to do,” he explained.
