By Godwill Arthur- Mensah
Accra, April 03, GNA – The fight against illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) is considered terrorism, and a matter of government policy, Mr. Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has said.
“The fight against galamsey is a national priority and we need everyone onboard to eradicate it, “the Minister announced this during an update on government’s measures to curb the galamsey menace, in Accra, on Thursday.
He urged the security agencies to carry out their duties without fear or intimidation from any quarters, urging them to disregard the so-called “call from above” to release persons arrested for engaging in galamsey and equipment seized on mining sites.
“I have the full authority and mandate of the President to wage relentless and uncompromising war on galamsey, and as a government policy, is considered a terrorism,”Mr. Buah emphasised.
He said, so far, 76 illegal small-scale miners had been arrested by the security operatives and 100 seized excavators in police custody since assuming office about 60 days ago.
“We’ll unmask all faceless people engaging in galamsey, they’re cowards,” the Minister assured.
The Minister referred to the recent gun exchanges between the forest guards and some illegal small-scale miners, resulting in a near fatal injury to the Forestry Commission officer.
He noted that the illegal bandits were fully armed to the teeth and gave assurance of the government’s determination to resource the Commission and security operatives to combat the phenomenon.
The Minister indicated that the government was taking steps to restrict the import of excavators, saying; “how can we import GHS 6.2 billion worth of excavators per year, being the third highest item on the country’s import bill last year?” Mr. Buah queried.
The government would undertake geo-tagging and geo-fencing of excavators right from the ports to track the movements of every earth-moving equipment, the Minister stated.
On measures to curb the menace, the Minister said the government would plant 20 million seedlings annually under the Tree of Life initiative, to restore the degraded mined out areas.
Additionally, 2, 000 water guards were being trained by the Ghana Navy to guard the water bodies and provide intelligence to the security agencies.
Currently, 400 water guards are undergoing training and would pass out by mid-April.
The Minister noted that sustainable resource management would be infused into school curricular to enable raise awareness amongst children-of-school going age to be active campaigners for environmental preservation.
GNA
BM