Illegal mining, also known as ‘galamsey’, can be brought under control, but new measures have to be adopted, Eric Kwakye Darfour, Eastern Regional Minister, has said.
The Eastern Region is one of the areas in the country most affected by the activities of unlicensed miners, with land degradation and water pollution resulting. Rivers, including the Birim and Densu, have been contaminated, with the Ghana Water Company recently complaining that the cost of treating water for public supply keeps mounting due to increased mining activity in or near water bodies with poisonous chemicals like mercury.
In an interview on Ghana Yensom on Accra FM Monday March 13, Mr Darfour acknowledged that his region was reeling under the effects of ‘galamsey’, an activity he said intensified over a decade there owing to being resource-rich, adding that the ranks of the illegal miners had swelled to close to a million while the practice had become entrenched due to a multiplicity of interest groups including chiefs, politicians, businessmen, among others.
However, he was of the view that the activity needed to be checked given the unpleasant effects that have come with it, but was certain a new approach to deal with ‘galamseyers’ must emerge.
According to him, the previous government deployed several task forces to deal with illegal mining, but they failed to stop the problem, for which a new approach must be developed to effectively deal with it.
“So what I am saying is that we need a different approach from the government, from the presidency, in terms of making laws or putting other mechanisms in place,” he told sit-in host Paa Kwesi Parker-Wilson
“We can do something about it…but it won’t be a one-stop activity.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
