In the matter of Kyebi galamsey

Kwame Asare Boadu Opinion Apr - 24 - 2014 , 05:11

During his recent visit to the Eastern Region, the President took a serious view of the way illegal gold mining (galamsey) was causing the Kyebi area to lose its green cover at a fast rate, while many rivers and streams had been polluted.

On that day, Mr Mahama, who had flown from the Afram Plains to Kyebi in a helicopter to inaugurate a water project for Akim Abuakwa, had shockingly watched from the air the green cover reduced to a mass of devastated land.

He consequently did not hesitate to describe Kyebi as “the headquarters of galamsey,” while calling on the chiefs of the area to help the government fight the canker.

The statement has since elicited reactions from the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, and some citizens of the area who, even though did not discount the fact that Kyebi was troubled by illegal mining, still felt the President went far with his description.

But for other citizens of the area, President Mahama was spot on with the description, especially as they believe it would wake the entire community from its slumber to fight to protect the environment.

I happened to be at the function where the President made the remark about Kyebi but I am not interested in the ensuing peripheral arguments.

Rather, I prefer to deal with the substantive matter, which relates to the way illegal mining activities are causing widespread damage to the ecology of the traditional capital of Akyem Abuakwa and, to a larger extent, the entire country.

Kyebi now

Journalists travelling with the President on his visit equally flew to the town in a helicopter and also got a clearer picture of the situation at Kyebi.

That continuous illegal mining has wreaked havoc on the area is an understatement. The tropical rainforest and arable lands have suffered from attacks from the illegal operators, and not only President Mahama but many people, including the Okyenhene, have had cause to lament on various platforms.

About three years ago, the media reported the arrest of eight galamsey operators who took over a piece of land belonging to the Abuakwa State College and the Community School for the Deaf at Kyebi for mining. Unfortunately, the media did not follow up the story and it died.

The area they were mining the precious ore was earmarked for a school park and other development projects for the school.

Disused pits dug by galamsey operators dot the once arable land that produced a lot of food and cash crops before the gold rush.

For the people, the discovery of gold is more of a curse than blessing, looking at the magnitude of destruction caused to farmlands and the pollution of freshwater bodies.

The phenomenon is partly rooted in poverty as some of the people are ready to receive pittance from the illegal operators to mine on their lands.

A sad situation is, thus, created - the government keeps losing revenue, the environment is polluted, while the illegal miners make millions in cash.

Regulation

In Ghana, mineral resources, by law, belong to the state. Before one would operate a mining resource, the person needs a license, and the entire operation must be guided by the laws of the country.

There is the argument in certain circles that the government should formalise galamsey by reviewing the existing legislation so that it will get the needed revenue from the activity.

But the government insists that there are existing laws guiding small-scale mining, only that some unscrupulous people are not ready to comply with them.

Security issue

The canker has now become a national security issue because of the devastating consequences it carries along with it.

Persistently, the media have come out with stories about galamsey, some of them terribly destructive and bloody as were taken human lives.

While some of our traditional leaders have been in the forefront in the fight against illegal mining, others have been overly involved by taking monies from illegal miners to plunder the resources for their personal gains.

It was to tackle the problem head-on that the government formed the inter-ministerial task force on illegal mining.

National situation

The plundering of the mineral wealth has affected the environment. Illegal mining has been one of the major causes of deforestation and land degradation. The destruction of the forests is a big threat to plants and animals that dwell in the forests.

Large tracts of farms, including cocoa farms, have been destroyed by galamsey operators and they pay virtually nothing to the farmers.

Rivers such as Birim, Offin and Pra have had their waters polluted by galamsey. Chemicals used in the mining are released into the nearby water bodies, resulting in the pollution of the water.

The Chinese factor

The interplay among the influx of foreigners, especially Chinese, in the illegal business, the greed of some chiefs who sell land to the illegal miners and the desperation of locals to benefit from the wealth, no matter the means, have contributed to the strengthening of illegal mining.

According to official figures released by the Government of South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, by June 2013, a total of 1,072 Chinese nationals engaged in illegal mining in Ghana had been deported to their homes in Shanglin County.

Before they were deported, the illegal miners transferred billions of dollars to their country, with the Ghana Government getting nothing from their operations.

The Government of Shanglin County (in China) said as many as 12,000 of its natives had worked in mining sites in Ghana as of June last year.

Risk

The possibility of high returns comes with high risks for the illegal miners. In April 14, 2013, 17 illegal Ghanaian miners, including two women, were killed in a mine pit which collapsed at Kyekyewere near Dunkwa in the Central Region. The victims, including two women, were between 18 and 50 years. This is just one of the many incidents in which illegal miners die in abandoned mining pits.

In local communities where the business is brisk, schoolchildren have abandoned school to work in the mines, with all the negative social and economic consequences.

Child labour is common in the mining communities and many children have subsequently had their education cut short.

Crackdown

The Ghana Government began a crackdown on the illegal activities resulting in the destruction of hundreds of illegal mining sites, mostly, owned by Chinese. Bulldozers and other equipment were seized.

Some measure of sanity has since prevailed, even though some of the miners have started returning to the fields.

The media recently reported on an incident in the Ashanti Region where illegal Chinese miners and security personnel exchanged gunfire as the latter moved to stop the operations of the galamsey operators.

Looking forward

It is in connection with this issue that the arrest of galamsey operators in Kyebi must be taken seriously by all concerned, rather than for people to get too much into trivialities.

Besides, the planned programmes by the government to provide alternative means of livelihood to galamsey operators provide another opportunity to get the youth off the illegal mine fields.

It is, therefore, important that the two programmes are given the much needed attention and pursued to their logical conclusion.