The government says it is not relenting in its fight against illegal mining activities, also known as galamsey.
It states that the cordoning off of all forest reserves by the Forestry Commission, coupled with the prosecution of illegal miners, is yielding positive results in the fight against the canker.
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, made this known while answering questions on the floor of Parliament in Accra on Wednesday.
“Awareness creation and stakeholder sensitization, decommissioning and demobilization of equipment used for illegality in the forest reserves. Destruction of illegal farms. Arrest and prosecution of forest offenders, including foreigners. I must emphasize that when it comes to illegalities in the forest reserves of our country, there is no distinction between nationals and foreigners.”
“The Forestry Commission has been working to cordon off all the forest reserves of our country to rid them of all forms of illegality. And these measures are yielding some results. Although, Mr. Speaker, I must admit that we are not out of the woods yet. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources will continue to work with particular state security agencies to ensure that the forest resources of our country are protected for posterity,” he said.
He added that his outfit is still surveying the landscape of the Sakumo Ramsar Site to identify its core zone for the continuation of the demolition of encroached structures.
“Mr. Speaker, the place is built up, especially because of the actions and inactions of successive governments. And the place has been encroached upon for several years. And, Mr. Speaker, if you are going to embark on a demolition exercise, you better make sure that you cross your Ts and dot your ‘Is’ and ensure that there is enough stakeholder engagement so that you can get everyone on board.”
“So that exercise is ongoing. When we are satisfied that we’ve engaged all the stakeholders, we’ve surveyed the place, we’ve identified the core area of the site, we will move ahead with the rest of the demolition exercise,” he said.
