Tame greed, stop galamsey — Central Regional Minister

The Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assan, says the public must tame greed and selfishness across societal spectrum in order to stem the wanton destruction of the environment for gold.

She said while the government and the President had made efforts to provide alternative livelihoods for people engaged in illegal mining, such interventions had — in some cases — been refused by the targeted populations because the efforts were not "get rich quick" interventions.

Mrs Assan said this at the Central Regional Town Hall Meeting in Cape Coast last Tuesday.

Hundreds of people from academia, civil society organisations and faith-based organisations, as well as traditional rulers, participated in the programme.

It was aimed, among other reasons, to give opportunity to the citizenry to interact at firsthand with government officials to gain insight into state policies and programmes, and to bring government closer to the people.

Mrs Assan said many preferred the get-rich-quick route such as galamsey rather than skills and training in entrepreneurial programmes, hence the craze over illegal mining, commonly called galamsey in Ghana.

The regional minister said it was important for all involved in galamsey to have a change of mind and be modest in the quest for money, saying the notion of getting rich by all means in spite of the consequences of their actions on the environment and the people was not good for the country.

She said galamsey and its effects required collective commitment from all stakeholders to fight it successfully.

Mrs Assan said the Central Regional Coordinating Council would begin a stakeholder engagement with traditional rulers and other community groups on ways to ensure responsible mining to eliminate environmental degradation through mining.

Education

Mrs Assan said the Free Senior High School (SHS) Programme had significantly increased enrolment from kindergarten to senior high school, increasing SHS enrolment in the region to 53,980 in 2023 from 20,030 in 2017.

She said the government had also supported educational institutions with educational equipment and vehicles.

The regional minister said the government had kept faith with the people by ensuring significant improvement in infrastructure, including increasing the road network from 5,702 kilometres of highways, urban and feeder roads.

She said all the eight hospitals under the Agenda 111 hospital projects in the region were at various levels of construction.

She further stated that from two regional ambulances in 2017, the region now had 23 ambulances in good condition supporting the delivery of quality health care.

On water and sanitation, Mrs Assan said 33,674 places of convenience had been constructed in the region, with 2,195 boreholes constructed to improve sanitary conditions. 

Democracy, accountability

The Minister of Information, Fatimatu Abubakar, said the nation could not practise democracy without accountability, stressing that the town hall meeting was a platform to be accountable to the people.

She said the government would continue to provide the environment for private entrepreneurs to thrive to boost the economy.

The Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, Mavis Hawa Koomson, indicated that the government had initiated proactive measures in fisheries management, including the sea closure and moratorium on canoes, to allow marine stocks to recover and replenish.

These strategic moves, she said, had not only safeguarded the future of fishing communities, but also granted fishermen essential rest periods, recognising the significance of physical well-being in their demanding vocation.

Ms Koomson also stated that the introduction of the sale of automated premix fuel had revolutionised the way fishermen accessed fuel by streamlining the process and ensuring transparency.

That, she said, not only simplified operations but also fostered accountability and fair distribution of resources among fishing communities.

Ms Koomson further highlighted the fruitful collaboration between Ghana and Israel in advancing the field of aquaculture, saying through the partnership, several students had had the opportunity to undergo specialised training in aquaculture practices, equipping them with essential skills in fisheries management.

The Presidential Advisor of Health, Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, said 100 hospital projects under the Agenda 111 hospitals project had commenced, with 33 of them almost completed.

The participants called for intensified actions against galamsey. They also called for improvement on the road network in the region.