President John Dramani Mahama has instructed the task force tasked with curbing the nation’s illegal small-scale mining to seize any excavators it finds rather than set them on fire.
“I’ve told them not to burn the excavators. They should confiscate them,” the President said at a Friday meeting with Christian Council members at the Presidential residence in Accra.
With the new instruction, the practice of burning excavators used in illicit mining operations on the site has changed.
Following reports that illegal miners have resumed their perilous operations, the renewed battle against the threat of illicit mining, which has degraded vast tracts of land, contaminated waterways, and destroyed forests, has gained increased attention.
President Mahama believed that if Ghana was to make any headway against the threat of illegal mining, a more organized strategy was required.
According to him, an estimated 1.8 million Ghanaians depend on the illicit mining industry for their financial support, which emphasizes the necessity for long-term employment creation.
43 of the nation’s 280 forest reserves, according to President Mahama, are impacted by galamsey.
He said that in order to stop the environmental damage that illegal miners are causing, a mobile team has been sent to report to the task force on illicit mining in forests and on water bodies.
He stated that a stakeholder dialogue on the topic and the implementation of innovative technologies for sustainable mining would be conveyed by the government shortly.
With the new technology, he explained that “before you start a small scale mine, you must do what they call leach dam and then you line it with plastic and then you wash the gold water into the dam.
“After you finish…they have cleaning agents they put in the water which takes out all the toxins and then you can discharge the [cleaned] water back into the environment. So we’ll engage with the stakeholders and bring some of these new technologies to their attention.”
Dr. Hilliard Dela Dogbe, the Council’s chairman, promised the President and his administration the Council’s material and spiritual assistance in the battle against illicit mining.
Since the majority of those involved in the act were members of their individual churches, he said, the Church would launch an education campaign and take some of the blame for the threat.
Despite this, Dr. Dogbe pointed out that the most effective strategy was political resolve to counter the threat.
“We can speak to the moral conscience of the people and they can choose to listen or not listen. Beyond the moral conscience, we appeal to you, Mr President, to use your authority to say no to illegal mining and once you strike that strongly, no one will go across,” he reiterated.
Source: newsthemegh.com