As calls for action to address the escalating galamsey crisis grow, President Akufo Addo has ordered the deployment of the police and the military to crack down on illegal small-scale mining.
The decision was made following a national security meeting to assess the impact of galamsey on river bodies and the environment.
Organized Labour issued a stern warning to the government on Wednesday, threatening a nationwide strike by the end of September if decisive action is not taken. Other groups, including religious leaders, have voiced similar sentiments.
The President has also ordered the deactivation of unlawful mining equipment if necessary, according to Lands and Natural Resources Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor, who made this announcement last night at a media event.
He announced:
“The various Regional Security Councils have been tasked to conduct recording sounds and scrutiny of their various areas and begin to roll out swoops and enhance the enforcement regime. So in the days and weeks to come, we will see the heightened and rampant enforcement.
“The Ghana Police Service at various RESECs will be the first point of call, if the need arises we will take it a step further by including the Ghana Armed Forces and when the need arises, we will possibly begin the extraordinary measure of decommissioning equipment used for illegal small scale mining,”
Discussions over galamsey and its catastrophic effects started when the Central Region management of Ghana Water Company Limited declared that water supply issues would affect Cape Coast, Elmina, and other areas.
The Sekyere Hemang Water Treatment Plant (WTP) received insufficient raw water as a result of galamsey activities, the business disclosed, which is the reason for the recent disparity between supply and demand.
Since then, civil society organizations, environmental organizations, and concerned individuals have expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of notable progress in reducing galamsey activities, which have led to river contamination, devastation, and destruction of farmlands as well as loss of livelihoods for Ghanaians.
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