President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reiterated his commitment to clamp down on illegal small-scale mining popularly known as ‘galamsey’ in order to protect Ghana’s water bodies.
Speaking on Zain’s Exchange on CNN Monday, President Akufo-Addo said his government has re-introduced measures to fight the menace, which is significantly affecting the country’s water bodies and degrading the environment.
The President reiterated that his government with the assistance of the military will eradicate galamsey for the environment to resuscitate to its natural state.
“We are determined to come to grip with it. In fact, this week major operations are being authorized by me, the Armed Forces to clear our rivers of all the equipment, the machinery that is devastating and polluting our environment and waters.
“So we are taking some very strong measures to try to come to grips with it,” he said.
Pursuant to the resolutions of the final communique of the National Stakeholder Dialogue on small-scale mining held in April, President Akufo-Addo directed the Ghana Armed Forced to commence an operation to remove all persons and logistics involved in illegal mining on the country’s water bodies.
The exercise, dubbed, “Operation Remove Persons and Logistics” involved in water bodies has already seen the arrest of two Chinese nationals and nine excavators being destroyed.
President Akufo-Addo has also announced that he will not hesitate to prosecute any member of his government or party who are caught engaging in the illegal activity.
Ghana’s water bodies have been under severe threat due to the activities of illegal small-scale miners.
It is predicated that the country may import drinking water in the next 10 to 15 years if something drastic is not done to halt galamsey.
