<<Print>>

Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, a former Director General of Ghana Health Service is demanding that the country's laws on illegal mining activities are allowed to work without any complexities. According to him, the galamsey activities are threatening the country's heritage and those engaged in this heinous activity should be slapped with the highest punitive order. Prof. Akosa, who has been working to salvage the deteriorating Birim River in the Eastern region, was sharing some perspectives on Joy News on Monday, regarding Lake Bosomtwi which is being threatened by illegal mining activities. He noted that all the water bodies throughout the country have been destroyed, stressing, "water is the source of life, anybody who touches water that person should not even live if one can be that brutal". Prof. Akosa also indicated that security surveillance over the operations of the illegal miners will not change the situation on the ground as equipments seized from perpetrators will later be released to them. Security officials in the Ashanti region are warning, Lake Bosomtwi could be destroyed by the activities of illegal miners. The galamsey menace is a threat to many water bodies, farmlands and forests, especially in six districts of the region. Regional Security Liaison Officer, Bimpong Marfo, says only intensified anti-galamsey operations can save the country from total destruction. According to Mr. Bimpong Marfo, the anti-galamsey taskforce needs to be adequately resourced to be able to sustain the gains made so far in the fight against galamsey activities in the country's water resources. Speaking to Nhyira FM's Ohemeng Tawiah, Mr. Bimpong Marfo said "we have one of the major natural lakes and if we don't protect it and these illegal mining gets there as they have started... We need to find the resources to combat it". Meanwhile, Nhyira FM's Ohemeng Tawiah reports that armed galamsey operators now work in the night to outwit the regional anti-galamsey task-force, which has been in operation since last year. Over hundred foreigners and locals involved in the illegal mining have so far been arrested with hundreds of excavators, assorted machines and other equipments seized. Amansie West and Amansie Central, Atwima Mponua, Bosome Freho districts as well as Obuasi and Asante Akim South municipalities are the most devastated by the activities of illegal miners. The Oda, Offin and Pra rivers have all been heavily polluted and the social fabric of the people is not spared, as security officials point to the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy in these areas.