Lands and Mines Watch Ghana (LMWG) has commended the renewed crackdown on illegal mining along the Ankobra River, saying sustained military and state-led operations are beginning to reverse the damage caused by galamsey.
The commendation follows a 16-kilometre inspection of the river on Thursday by LMWG Executive Director Kwame Owusu Danso and the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, to assess the work of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) and Ghana Navy Special Forces.
LMWG said the stretch inspected showed a marked improvement compared with its previous visits, with fewer signs of illegal dredging and clearer sections of the river where mining activity had previously left the water heavily polluted and sediment-laden.
The watchdog attributed the improvement largely to what it described as continuous, dawn-to-dawn patrols by NAIMOS and the Navy.
“What we saw today is materially different from what we encountered on earlier visits,” Mr Owusu Danso said, commending the personnel deployed to the river.
He, however, warned that the apparent gains could quickly be lost if enforcement becomes intermittent.
“Recovery of the Ankobra, and of Ghana’s other polluted river bodies, will depend on consistency rather than episodic enforcement,” he said.
Mr Owusu Danso also welcomed a declaration by Mr Armah-Kofi Buah during the tour that he would rather die with integrity than be corrupted in the fight against illegal mining.
According to LMWG, the declaration was significant because the fight against galamsey has historically been weakened not by a lack of laws or security personnel, but by compromised enforcement.
“A Minister who publicly stakes his integrity on this fight sets a standard that everyone in the chain of command must now live up to,” Mr Owusu Danso said.
LMWG is consequently urging the government and security agencies to maintain the continuous patrols and extend them to other vulnerable stretches of the Ankobra and other polluted rivers.
It is also demanding regular publication of verifiable information on arrests, seizures and prosecutions, particularly against individuals who finance or provide protection for illegal mining operations.
The organisation further called for land reclamation and alternative livelihood programmes to complement enforcement in affected communities.
LMWG said it would continue its independent field monitoring of government’s anti-galamsey interventions and publish its findings.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
