Despite public uproar about the Government’s policy to burn excavators used on illegal mining sites in the country, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has provided legal and policy justification for the actions by the government.
The Military taskforce code named “Operation Halt” commissioned by the Lands and Natural Resources Minister against the activities of illegal miners, has engaged in the confiscation of mining equipment including the burning of excavators found sites.
The Minister gave the justification on the Floor of Parliament on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in an answer to a question filed by the Member of Parliament for the North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.
Ablakwa wanted to know from the Minister, the legal and policy justification for the burning of excavators in the ongoing fight against illegal small-scale mining (galamsey).
According to the Minister, there is ample legal and policy justification for the Government’s action. He cited Article 36 (9) and Article 41 (k) of the 1992 constitution as legal basis, which basically impose a duty on the Government to take appropriate measures to protect and safeguard the environment.
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On the policy justification, the Minister indicated that the Government had a duty to ensure a total protection of the people in the country without compromising on the availability of essential natural resources necessary for human survival such as water and a healthy environment.
“Our nation is under serious threat. Our water bodies are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Our nation risks becoming a net importer of water if we do not take action to stop illegal mining on our water bodies. Our forest cover is depleting unsustainably. Our environment and ecosystems are being devastated,” he said.
When a question was raised about the government’s liability for a possible judgement debt for burning the excavators, the Minister argued that the presence of the excavators in water bodies and forest reserves connotes the perpetration of an illegal activity which provides an “ample justification for the decommissioning or demobilization of excavators illegally used to destroy our environment.”
He said, “the totality of the legal and policy considerations supports the work being undertaken by the security services, and we are convinced that no cause of action can be founded on such illegal acts.”
The Minister further justified that the Government’s policy decision has brought remarkable improvements in the fight against illegal mining in the country.
“Within the few months that we have implemented these measures, we have seen significant improvements, which we have never achieved in the history of our country’s fight against galamsey, since the 1980s,” he said.
Source: Clement Akoloh || parliamentnews360.com