President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has renewed his commitment to tackling the issue of illegal small scale mining popularly referred to as ‘galamsey’ in the country.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Thursday, the President indicated that government still stands by its position to use all available means to address the galamsey menace which continues to destroy large portions of the country’s vegetation cover and water resources.
This comes at a time when many have taken on the government for what many consider as government’s failure to deal with the menace as promised in the run-up to the 2016 general elections.
While commending the efforts of the media coalition against galamsey and the Inter-ministerial Committee against Illegal Mining, Nana Addo mentioned that he will ensure that no one neglects his or her responsibility in the fight to protect Ghana’s environment.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) says the fight against illegal mining popularly known as “galamsey” should be depoliticized.
The menace according to the party, affects all and thus a collective effort is needed to tackle it.
This appeal comes on the back of accusation by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the government has failed to deal with illegal mining; a situation that is adversely affecting the country.
Director of Communications for the NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoa said all hands must be on deck to end galamsey. In the past week, the NDC has described the government’s fight against galamsey as a failure because of several actions by government appointees and the issue of missing seized equipment.
But the NPP, on the other hand, has absolved itself from any wrongdoing insisting the fight against the menace is in full force.
Already, various bodies have called on the government to provide details on the progress or otherwise made on the fight against galamsey, with the NDC, demanding for a public exhibition of the seized excavators.
Source:Fiilafmonline/CitiNews
