Galamsey fight: Let’s act now!!
The national uproar over the escalating spate of illegal mining has reached a crescendo, with many groups and prominent Ghanaians calling on the President to declare a state of emergency.
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Some of the associations have also stressed the need for the government to, as a matter of urgency, ban all forms of small-scale mining to help sanitise the sector to protect the environment.
Among the key groups and associations that have publicly vented their displeasure over the galamsey menace are the Ghana Medical Association (GMA); the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG); the Christian Council of Ghana (CCG); the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (CBC); the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG); and the Media Coalition against Galamsey.
These groups have called on the government to move beyond rhetoric to implement bold, overarching measures to help stem the tide.
The Daily Graphic fully supports the collective action by the groups and associations to deal with this illegal mining scourge that is widely seen as an existential threat to humanity and the environment.
The hard truth is that the country is at a crossroads in the search for pragmatic solutions to the escalating illegal mining menace.
More than seven years after the government declared war against illegal mining, the country is yet to come out of the woods, as illegal miners continue to wreak havoc on land and water resources.
The illegal miners are having a field day, leading to the wanton destruction of the country’s land and water resources.
Swathes of agricultural lands have been reduced to gullies while several hectares of forest reserves that have been designated as red zones have been pillaged with impunity.
Worse still, the activities of the illegal miners have destroyed the sanctity of major rivers such as the Pra, Ankobra, Offin, Densu, Birim and Black Volta. These rivers have been heavily polluted with mercury, cyanide and other metals such that their turbidity levels keep worsening by the day.
Already, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has raised red flags about the negative impact of galamsey on its treatment plants and warned that the country risked water scarcity if nothing was done to address the menace.
For instance, on August 30, this year, the GWCL made a distress call for urgent steps to be taken to halt galamsey activities in the Pra River to prevent an imminent water crisis in the region.
"About 60 per cent of the catchment capacity is silted as a result of illegal mining compromising the quality of raw water. We are currently recording an average turbidity of 14,000 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) instead of 2000 NTUs designed for adequate treatment. Currently, the plant is only able to produce 7,500m3 per day, a quarter of its installed capacity,” the GWCL revealed in its press release.
The destruction illegal mining has caused to the country’s forest reserves is alarming, with the recent State of the Nation’s Forest report by the Forestry Commission revealing that 392,714.81 hectares of the country’s 288 forest reserves have been “significantly impacted” by illegal mining activities, out of which 4,726.26 hectares in 34 of the reserves had been confirmed as destroyed.
There are also many cases of deaths resulting from collapsed and uncovered mining pits.
In terms of the health implications of galamsey, health experts have warned that the country risked having more children being born with cleft lip and palate because the heavy metals used in illegal mining had polluted many drinking water sources.
In view of the above, the Daily Graphic calls on all well-meaning Ghanaians to support any form of mass action within the confines of the law that will result in urgent action by the duty-bearers to deal with the galamsey menace.
We call for the strict enforcement of the Minerals and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2019 (Act 995) to ensure that persons who mine illegally are handed hefty penalties to deter others.
If we fail to decisively deal with the illegal mining menace, our path to sustainable development will be obstructed because most of the sustainable development goals (SGDs) are linked to the quality of the environment.
We cannot imagine getting to the point where water will be imported into this country simply because some selfish individuals have destroyed that natural resource in the desperate search for gold.
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We acknowledge that gold mining contributes significantly to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). However, if we must mine, we must do so responsibly and sustainably. Posterity will not forgive us all if we watch on for the country’s resources to be destroyed.