Editorial by The Chronicle: Stemming the threat of galamsey - Enough of the rhetoric

Undoubtedly, it is increasingly becoming clearer that Ghana is losing the fight against illegal mining (galamsey), which has assumed alarming proportions in recent years.

As a matter of fact, the desire by past and the present government to fight the menace, which is steadily graduating from crisis to catastrophe, has been nothing, but a cliché.

This is because though several governmental interventions have been made by the current government in particular, to help end the canker, the results have remained the same.

Unfortunately, the wanton destruction of acreages of arable lands, forest vegetation, water bodies and even cocoa farms has been massive with no end in sight.

The illegal activities which have destroyed our lands and water bodies undoubtedly constitute an existential threat to our lives as a people.

For instance, almost all our water bodies, which are the main sources of drinking water, treated by Ghana Water Company, and distributed nationwide for human consumption and industrial use, have all been polluted by galamseyers.

The turbidity levels of most rivers in the country have reached an all-time high in recent times, as a result of the activities of illegal miners, which are done deep inside the water bodies.

It appears that nobody really cares about the dire consequences of galamsey activities on our lives, as well as that of future generation.

If for nothing at all, the fact that dangerous chemicals are used to was the ore in the rivers and on land by these galamseyers must give us a heads up on the foreseeable dangers tomorrow.

It is in the wake of this eminent threat that stares at us, as a people, that The Chronicle has become increasingly worried about the lip service being paid by our political leaders in the fight against galamsey.

A recent leaked report on galamsey activities by the former Minister for Environment, Science and Technology Innovation, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, allegedly indicted some top government officials.

The report, which has generated national discourse, indicated that some government officials and party functionaries were allegedly involved in the menace in one way or the other.

The massive destruction of our water bodies and forest reserves by illegal miners and the inability of the state to stem the tide has become a conundrum begging for answers.

Though The Chronicle cannot verify the veracity of all the claims, as contained in the report, however, its contents must challenge officialdom to rise above political rhetoric in the fight against the canker, which has the potential to force the country to import potable water.

In our opinion, it must serve as a wakeup call to government to intensify its fight against the menace and rid our forest reserves and water bodies of galamseyers.

This way, we believe that the government could purge its name of all galamsey related activities which have taken over the country at an alarming rate.

What does it profit us as a people when we clandestinely allow illegal miners who have become nation wreckers to destroy our forests and then organise tree planting exercise in the name of green Ghana campaign?

In today’s issue of this paper, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, is reported to have said, although he is not seeking to justify the continuous degradation of our forests, Ghanaians must appreciate the enormity of the problem that government is dealing with.

According to him, the challenge notwithstanding, a concerted and determined effort to clamp down on deforestation and the degradation of our forests would continue. The Minister for Lands has spoken, but all The Chronicle wants is action and not rhetoric.