Fight Against Galamsey: So Far So Good – Prez Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has once again reminded Ghanaians of his promise to completely fight against illegal mining, popularly called ‘galamsey’.
Speaking at the commissioning of a secretariat for the inter-ministerial committee on illegal mining in Accra, he indicated that his government will at all cost win the fight against galamsey practices even though some problems have erupted out of the bold initiative, since the launch of the operation vanguard team in 25th July 2017.
“Launching of the Operation Vanguard, a force comprising officers and men from the Military and Police Service tasked to prevent further pollution of our water bodies and land degradation. The Operation Vanguard has so far been a huge success, therefore we are entering a new era in our efforts to formalize the small scale mining industry so as to achieve sustainable mining practices with sound environmental practice,” he stated.
The President further added his expectations on fighting illegal mining, “In the weeks and months ahead I expect to see optimum coordination amongst participating ministers and the district mining committees as well as close interaction with the operation vanguard team, small scale miners and the general public. All must accept the committee in order to receive regular reports from mining centre’s so that the illegal activities can be dealt with immediately.”
Meanwhile, Chairman for the inter-ministerial committee on illegal mining and Minister of Environment Science and Technology, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng has said that his outfit is going to set up a very efficient administrative system.
“There is going to be a desk for all the ministers on the committee. Operation Vanguard will be here and we hope to have a call centre that will operate 24/7, we have also installed the high speed internet to enable us connect to the district."
“We have had meetings with the Small Scale Miners Association of which each of them is going to get a digital address for easy identification,” he noted.
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