A civil society group championing campaigns against illegal mining, WACAM, has predicted the emergence of dangerous illegal mining cartels in the country if government fails to swiftly act against ‘galamsey’ activities.
According to WACAM, some illegal mining groups are putting their resources together to violently resist any group [including government] that attempts to clamp down on their activities.
The Executive Director of WACAM, Hannah Owusu-Koranteng told Citi News government has so far failed to effectively deal with the growing phenomenon of illegal mining.
“When we talk about illegal mining, the only person or group of people who have a responsibility towards this is government and the state has been provided with the support and logistics to ensure that state institutions do this kind of work to protect citizens”.
Madam Owusu-Koranteng added that “if we are not careful and we keep on messing up like this, cartels will be formed and very soon when anybody who is serious and wants to thwart the efforts of some of these operations we would have a difficulty.”
Ghana has in the last few years lost some of its major water bodies to illegal mining activities especially in the Eastern, Ashanti and Western regions.
The activity has also resulted in the shutdown of the Kyebi and Daboase water treatment plants.
The Executive Director of WACAM laments that if urgent steps are not taken to address the menace, Ghana will face acute water shortage that may lead the country into perilous times.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana