Govt is paying lip services to the Fight against Galamsey- Hon Suhuyini
Deputy Ranking of Lands and Forestry Committee of Parliament, Hon Alhassan Suhuyini Sayibu has berated the Akufo-Addo led administration for not doing enough to fight the activities of illegal small scale mining locally known as Galamsey.
According to him, for the last six years the Akufo-Addo government has only been engaged in rhetoric without action to fight the Galamsey menace which is getting worse.
The Tamale North lawmaker made the comments on TV3 current affairs program, the “Key Points” on Saturday, September 17, 2022, monitored by Expressnewsghana.
In his considered view, it is the constant eyes of the Media Coalition against illegal mining, made up of some journalists, who took it upon themselves to highlight the negative impact of galamsey and the need for it to be stop.
“It was only after this that the government started initiating some moves to deal with the situation.
‘The government was not committed to the fight against galamsey,” the Deputy Ranking said.
Hon Suhuyini noted that until the.media took up the matter and highlighted it, “They (government ) have only engaged in rhetoric and waste of money.”
Similarly, the Chamber of Agribusiness Ghana (CAG) has also expressed concerns over the low commitment and willpower of the government of Ghana in the fight against galamsey.
The Galamsey menace directly affect the agricultural sector, especially Cocoa and other food crops.
Most farmlands have destroyed and all water bodies from the up stream to the lower streams have also been polluted.
Hundreds of farmers including the Youths who ventured into farming have all abandoned the sector and joined the illegal mining which appeared more lucrative.
The worse of all is that most local football pitches and community durbar grounds have all been affected.
Acquiring farmlands for the purpose of agriculture has become.expensive and scared to get.
Meanwhile the Chief Executive of thenagricultural sector, Chamber of Agricbusiness Ghana, Anthony Morrison, has expressed concern of the greed and pettiness on the part of authorities as part of the blockade to the fight against the activities of illegal mining.
“From the engagement we have had with the government as civil society groups within the agricultural sector, the press conference we had to share our concerns with videos, farmers from across the country were brought to tell their stories but nothing has been done about them” the chamber laments in an interview with 3fm,Accra.
He stressed that galamsey is not such a huge problem that Ghana cannot fight, so if the president and the state institutions vested with powers to enforce laws complain that some people within the system are making it impossible to curb the galamsey menace, then they should relinquish their positions.
“For a government that has spent a colossal amount of 400 million dollars in the fight against galamsey to still be crying wolf that mafias are making it impossible to fight galamsey successfully, I think the onus is on you to humbly step down. If you think the forces are greater than Ghana and for that matter the powers that the citizens have bestowed on you which you can’t use then you have no business occupying those positions” Morrison stated.
Source : expressnewsghana/3news