By Albert Allotey
Accra, Oct. 22, GNA- Bishop Matthew Addae-Mensah, the Founder and Leader of the Gospel Light International Church has called on Ghanaians to help in fighting illegal mining “galamsey” to save the environment and water bodies.
“The galamsey menace is not a battle for the President or the government alone, rather all of us must get involved with our hearts and minds to overcome it,” Bishop Addae-Mensah stated in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
He said: “I must be honest with you some party executives from both the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party are involved and we need everybody on board to put an end to this unfortunate situation.
“Our water bodies do not have party colours. Their destruction would affect all of us.”
He urged the government to enforce measures put in place to end the illegal mining and that whoever is arrested must be made to face the full rigorous of the law without fear or favour.
Bishop Addae-Mensah said the youth who were currently engaged in illegal mining must be given training in skill mining and land reclamation to protect the environment.
He said the use of cyanide and mercury in mining destroy the land, contaminate water bodies, and foodstuffs such as cassava, cocoyam, potatoes among others and brought about all manner of sicknesses such as kidney failures, cancers, and deformation of babies in the womb.
“I have been in the mining sector before and according to research it takes 15 years before the land so mined could be used for farming activities. This deprived the farmers in their livelihood,” he stated.
He suggested that proper mining skills must be introduced in the school curriculum from the junior high to the senior high school levels to help prepare the minds of the children.
He said Proverbs 22:6, states: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it” and that by putting this moral principle in the children would help them grow to become responsible adults in whatever they do.
GNA