Galamsey nightmare: Is there a way out?
The galamsey crisis is like the tentacles of an octopus, which continues to fasten and to tighten its stranglehold on mother Ghana, determined against all odds not only to suffocate her, but also to poison her with dangerous chemicals.
Equally, against all odds, mother Ghana continues in her relentless fight against the destructive monster
Various governments have made one form of commitment or the other towards the fight against illegal mining.
During the immediate past [NPP] regime, for instance, the fight against galamsey involved the deployment of soldiers to the various galamsey sites; arrest the galamseyers; seize their machinery; arraign them before court and either fine or jail them (or both).
Security-led operations in this regard included vanguard, galamstop, etc.
Unfortunately, these calculated, well-intentioned operations failed to yield the desired result because they certainly did not stop the daring “environmental criminals”.
Well, the galamsey roots have gone very deep down to the lowest reaches of the ground.
I was shocked to the marrow when I heard on the news, for the second time, that armed illegal miners (like armed robbers) actually opened fire on the security officers who had come to confront them.
This should tell you something.
What if any of the officers were gunned down?
The truth is that even if all the unemployed youth who are actively engaged in illegal mining were to be organised and offered alternative livelihood by way of start-up capital to start their own small businesses; or recruited into some kind of allowance-paying apprenticeship, which are laudable steps in the right direction, they will still engage in galamsey as a means of earning “quick” income, “extra” income, etc.
New dawn
Apart from deploying security officers to the galamsey sites as usual, the current NDC administration has obviously moved the fight against galamsey to another level by placing an embargo on the importation of excavators into the country, among other things.
A decisive, purpose-driven and proactive action is obviously ongoing against the galamsey menace, but how far will the government go in terms of successfully bringing the galamsey monster to its knees?
The way out
An emergency cabinet meeting of the Sahendrin (the Jewish ruling council) was held to discuss and to determine the way forward regarding the arrest and execution of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The chairman (the high priest) made a very interesting statement: “And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, 'You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish” John 11:49-50. Did you hear that?
Caiaphas did not mince words.
He spoke in plain language and straight to the point.
This is not the time to mince words at all.
He told them: ‘It is better for one man (Jesus) to die for the people than for the whole nation to perish.
Similarly, in our peculiar case too, isn’t it better for a few galamseyers to perish than for the whole nation to be poisoned with chemicals? Think about it.
I am not in any way suggesting or proposing a “shoot to kill” idea, but I am afraid it has to come close to that if it becomes necessary, so as to scare them off.
If galamseyers know that going on a galamsey mission to disturb our river bodies is a matter of life and death, they will certainly think twice before they finally decide to embark on the dangerous venture.
I know that this will not go down well with human rights activists, but mind you, the (galamsey) roots will continue to travel down deeper and deeper with every passing day
E-mail: boniatiase@gmail.com
