Several organisations and individuals, continue to throw their weight behind Citi FM’s campaign against the menace of galamsey in the country.
Policy think tank, IMANI Ghana, is the latest civil society organization to join the campaign dubbed #StopGalamseyNow.
The CSO took to social media to make the announcement:
IMANI supports @Citi973 #StopGalamseyNow campaign @KojoAB @benkoku @sandiooses @CalebKudah @NAkufoAddo @MawuliTsikata @Dzansibrian pic.twitter.com/fGI3WOiWvd
— Imani Africa (@ImaniAfr) April 4, 2017
In 2013, GWCL shut down one of its treatment plants at Odaso in the Ashanti Region which supplied water to Obuasi @Citi973 #StopGalamseyNow
— Imani Africa (@ImaniAfr) April 4, 2017
#StopGalamseyNow is a campaign that calls on government to undertake five steps to clamp down on the menace which is destroying the county’s land and water resources, and may see Ghana resorting to the importation of clean water in the next two decades.
Citi FM’s five demands include:
- The total cessation of all small and medium scale mining for a period of six months
- The cessation of the issuance of new mining licences for a year
- The reclassification of mining categories to reflect the use of new/larger equipment
- The allowance of water bodies to regenerate their natural ecology
- Tree planting and a land reclamation project
Galamsey menace
There has been intense pressure on government to deal with the galamsey menace.
Currently, some water treatment plants have been shut down over activities of illegal miners, which have rendered water bodies from which the plants harvest water for processing useless.
Watchers of the sector have further lamented that if such activities are not stopped, Ghana may soon be importing water from neighboring countries.
The galamsey menace has also led to the destruction of many farmlands, which serve as livelihood for a number of families.
Ghanaians join Citi FM’s #StopGalamseyNow campaign
When the campaign was launched on Monday April 3, various groups and individuals joined in raising awareness on the menace.
Organisations such as the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), the Center for Democratic Development (CDD) and some other Ghanaians took to Twitter to express their concerns about the menace, which is destroying various water bodies and the environment in general.
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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin