The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is calling on community members and traditional authorities to take drastic measures to resist the operations of illegal miners in their respective jurisdictions.
This follows recent cases of illegal mining across the country.
The Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Benito Owusu Bio, has charged community authorities and members in various communities, saying their roles in the fight against the illegal mining menace are crucial.
He added that the government needs strong resistance from the public to help address the canker.
He cited the recent action of some inhabitants of Sabronum in the Ashanti region to resist the operations of illegal miners in the area as an example and urged other mining communities to emulate that action, especially as the practice of illegal mining keeps getting worse.
He said, “As for Galamsey, I’ll keep on saying it. All of us have to be involved to address the issue of galamsey. Because as we are here now, there’s someone somewhere at Wassa digging, and we are here. So if we leave it alone for the government to fight alone, then it will be difficult for us to ensure that we are fighting it to the fullest maximum potential. We need the citizenry; our chiefs, government officials, security officials, everybody, including citizens, and the local people. What if the local people say they will not let you mine illegally in their area, there’s no way you can do it.”
He added, “Quite recently we heard the case of Sabornu; some people went there with machines, and they stopped them. They didn’t call the government; they didn’t even call security. The people stopped themselves, and it is laudable, so with galamsey, everybody must get involved.”
The Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey, disclosed that its partnership with Star Agro Limited is also helping to reclaim various degraded areas as more trees are being planted.
He added that the Forestry Commission is working tirelessly to protect the forests by sensitizing and arresting perpetrators in illegal mining to help address the canker.
“Fighting drivers of deforestation in illegal mining is not a single intervention. We are doing sensitization, education, protecting the forest, and embarking on enforcement by making arrests and referring them to state agencies that lead into investigations and prosecution.”
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