As illegal mining popularly known as galamsey continues to cause serious havoc to Ghana’s mining area, a United States of America based Ghanaian mining engineer, Dr Solomon Owusu, has slammed President Akufo-Addo for using the wrong approach to fight the canker, which is currently the leading cause of water pollution and land degradation in the country.
Dr Owusu’s statement comes after the Ghana Water Company Ltd (GWCL) issued a letter calling for a stakeholder engagement for pragmatic solutions to address the problems with illegal mining. According to him, the incumbent government is continuing to follow a wrongful direction in addressing the illegal mining (galamsey) menace.
He added that, high volumes of unmanaged hazardous chemicals such as mercury and cyanide have been released into the water bodies and forests, through the activities of illegal mining, mostly operated by the Chinese nationals. In his view, President Akufo-Addo has failed to technically address this issue of national concern and is wasting taxpayers’ money on unnecessary stakeholder engagements.
“I think it’s time to find a lasting solution to our water pollution, land degradation and the alarming rate of diseases through the activities of illegal mining, especially those mining directly from our water bodies,” he said.
He said the stakeholder engagement organized by the Ghana Water Company is a complete waste of time, money and resources. Describing how fruitless and senseless the engagement is, Dr. Owusu advised President Akufo-Addo to engage professionals with the requisite knowledge, experience and capabilities to help solve the galamsey problems.
“If I may ask, how many stakeholder engagements have your government organized on water pollution and illegal mining since 2017 and how many of them have produced any significant positive results?” he asked.
In his opinion, the President can’t continue to put square pegs in round holes and expect to win this fight against galamsey. He admonished Mr. Akufo-Addo to act diligently now, since his government has less than Six (6) months to leave office. He further reminded the President that he promised to put his presidency on the line in addressing the menace.
By Lawrence Odoom