The Ranking Member on the Lands and Natural Resources Committee of Parliament, Alhassan Suhuyini has cast doubt on the ability of the government to effectively tackle illegal mining also known as galamsey.
This follows the active mining activities located on the main Kumasi-Accra highway, polluting the Owere River, which supplies water to communities in Konongo and surrounding areas.
Environmental Protection Agency and Minerals Commission officials claimed they were only informed about a dredging exercise by the Asante Akim Central Assembly, but were unaware of the mining activities.
Alhassan Suhuyini in an interaction with Citi News on the matter said the seeming involvement of government officials in the illegal mining menace dwindles hope in its fight.
Suhuyini attributed the persistence of galamsey to the involvement of government officials, citing the lack of proper scrutiny and supervision in community mining initiatives.
He alleged that these initiatives are often used to provide jobs for party affiliates without adequate training or oversight, leading to environmental destruction.
Suhuyini questioned the assembly’s [Asante Akim Central] claim that they were only informed about a dredging exercise, suggesting that they may have intentionally misled the public.
“Look at how the community mining is done across the country. It is preserved or reserved as jobs for their boys in the various communities where mining takes place.
“No proper scrutiny and supervision is done. These people just engage in the destruction of their forests and land that is allocated to them. So I’m not surprised that it is happening in Konongo.”
“I’m not surprised that it is happening in the Upper East. I’m not surprised that it’s happening even in the Savannah region, around the Bole-Bamboi areas, where people are given these parcels of land because of their affiliation to the New Patriotic Party without any supervision, without any training, and they just engage in destruction.
“It is evidence of the fact that this government has simply checked out from the pretentious fight that they started because they have seen clearly that people have seen through the facade.”
Source: citinewsroom.com