Ghana risks importing water with the increasing devastation country’s river bodies by illegal miners, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr George Mireku Duker, has warned.
He said “Because of greed and selfishness, we are destroying this country’s environment by mining deep in the centre of river bodies. Illegal miners defecate and even urinate whilst they mined for gold. We must resolve to say that mining in water bodies is a no-go area. Riversmounted with Chanfang is a sad commentary of our situation.”
Mr Duker made these comments on Monday when he led journalists and a team from ‘Operation Halt II’ aboard a Ghana Airforce aircraft, to conduct an aerial assessment of ‘Operation Halt II at WassaDunkwa in WassaAmenfi East municipality of Western Region.
Interestingly, when the team arrived, the galamseyers, including woman had bolted from the site. However, the soldiers burnt mining equipment and makeshifts houses erected at the site.
Mr Duker noted that, the impunity on Ghana’s environmental governance and practices must not be allowed to continue and called for collective efforts to stem the tide at WassaDunkwa and other sites in the country, saying “If we don’t take care, we will be importing water. Our rivers are highly polluted.”
He explained to journalists that,anyone, who desired to mine on any concession, needed to follow the legal protocols and acquire licence.
He was also unhappy that some suspects were caught winning sand at the site to build a police station, and was disappointed that they had abandoned deep craters at the site.
MrDuker added “Obviously they will not have any document.In accordance with Act 703, they need a permit irrespective of where the land is being mined. But, one sad thing is that, the abandoned pits will collect water and children could be trapped to death. In any case, the sand they are winning is what we need for the reclamation.”
“You cannot also mine and be diverting river courses and destroying trees,”Mr Duker said.
The ministry, he said, was in talks with the Chiefs and opinion leaders to cooperate with the government in the fight against illegal miners adding “we’llflush out the nation wreckers.”
He acknowledged the hard work of the military to get illegal miners out of the river bodies, adding “We are in this together and we must resolve to protect the bodies, we are not saying don’t mine, but, mine and responsibly.”
He continued “It’s very unfortunate, we will not relent in our efforts to clamp down on the illegal miners. We must resolve the matter now to set up the river wardens where people will be permanently placed along the riverbanks to be patrol 24 hours.”
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, WASSA DUNKWA
