The Country Director, Ghana, of the Africa Institute of Small Scale Mining, Abdul -Salam Yussif, has lauded the President, Nana Akufo-Addo for the government's bold policy of stopping illegal mining in the country.

He noted that initially many people did not understand the President, but after they had seen the positive effect of the President's initiative on the environment, particularly water; they now appreciate the ban on illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

Speaking in an interview with the Ghanaian Times newspaper in Accra on Friday, Mr Yussif stressed that since the government launched the fight against galamsey the mining sector had seen responsible mining of the resource to the benefit of the society at large and not just those into galamsey as it used to be in the past.

He noted that the President did very well by launching the Gold Catcher equipment in Accra recently to be used to embark on responsible mining in the country.

Mr Yussif said the President set a very good example when at the launch of the programme, he procured very expensive 100 pieces of the Gold Catcher equipment to be distributed to miners for responsible mining in the country.

He added that it was good that the President who is fighting galamsey had offered a better alternative to mining, which is the Gold Catcher equipment.

Mr Yussif called on the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and all other regulatory authorities to ensure that the equipment were provided to miners in all districts where mining activities take place in the country.

He advised people to venture into legally- backed mining, such as small scale mining which is approved, and for that matter, documents were available to support operators in that sector.

The Ghana Country Director noted that water was more important and even more expensive than gold and silver, stressing that the President had done the nation a lot good by banning illegal mining, adding that the whole world was applauding him for waging war on galamsey.