Prof. Kofi Agyekum
Professor Kofi Agyekum, popularly called "Opanyin Agyekum", cannot fathom why government can't combat illegal mining (galamsey) once and for all.
Galamsey has been destroying the country's water bodies and environment over the years with little to no action taken to stop this pestilence.
This illegal business proves to be one of the toughest things to fight in the nation as reports indicate traditional leaders, government officials and natives of the various galamsey communities among other high-profile personalities are directly involved.
This has adversely affected the operations of the Ghana Water Company Ltd. with the company warning that “about Sixty percent (60%) of the catchment capacity is silted as a result of illegal mining (galamsey) compromising the quality of raw water. We are currently recording an average turbidity of 14,000 NTU instead of 2000 NTU designed for adequate treatment”.
Opanyin Agyekum, on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, expressed disappointment in the authorities for failing to clamp down on the illegal miners.
He wondered why the nation is not committing the fight in the hands of the Security Services with specific mention of the Military.
"Do the galamseyers outnumber us or are they stronger than us? Do they have more weapons that when you go to cease them from operating, they can overcome us?", the Head of Linguistics at the University of Ghana questioned.
To him, "the government has relaxed her efforts", however he calls on the authorities to do the needful to discourage the illegality.
