Yaw Amoafo, Secretary of the Small Scale Miners Association in Amansie West, has said arresting persons engaged in illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) will not address the problem.
According to him, educating those engaged in the act on the debilitating effects of their activities is what will eradicate the problem confronting the country.
Speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom, on Accra100.5FM on Wednesday April 5, he said: “This galamsey involves a lot of people. Even those of us who are licensed, we know those engaged in the illegal mining but we should not arrest them for engaging in the act. Now is the time to find lasting and proper ways of handling the matter.
“Those engaged in illegal mining should be talked to on the effects of galamsey so they adopt the right approach to mining. I am sure this problem will stop.”
Meanwhile, Ken Ashigbey, Managing Director of the Graphic Communications Group and a member of the Media Coalition against Galamsey, has said government officials calling for the regularisation of galamsey do not deserve to be in leadership.
He said on Ghana Yensom on Wednesday: “People claiming that the galamsey is providing employment to a lot of people hence should be allowed to continue, should stop making that argument.
“In that case, then they should go to the prisons and release all those who have found themselves there for engaging in robbery, because they were also looking for money to survive. This galamsey is an illegality that is killing even more people than armed robbery, and so it should not be condoned in any way.
“Those making the argument that galamsey is a source of employment do not deserve to be in leadership. They are superintending over our water bodies being destroyed and instead of they coming out with alternatives to support the indigenous Ghanaians, they are sitting down and people are coming all over the world to come and destroy our water bodies.
“As we speak now, there is a looming conflict between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire because of galamsey. Cote d’Ivoire is saying that the galamsey we are doing here in Ghana is polluting their water bodies to the extent that some of their water treatment plants have been closed down.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
