Nana Otoubour Djan Kwasi II, the Aburihene, has called on all traditional leaders to join forces in the fight against illegal mining popularly known as galamsey in the country.
The chief, who takes delight in issues of environment, made this call in an interview with Citi News at his palace in Aburi on Tuesday.
[contextly_sidebar id=”A1vdFysVMeCIKuewy9ULWHkOQWivRC50″]Nana Otoubour Djan Kwasi, who was disturbed by the level of devastation and degradation of the environment, called on fellow chiefs to assist President Nana Akufo-Addo end the galamsey menace.
He said “growing up as a teenager, I had the opportunity to cross the Pra river, Ankobra river and the Densu river and I must say the clean nature of it those times attracted and pulled people to park their cars take photos. But when I recently visited those places where these rivers are, I was deeply heartbroken as the once clean and clear flowing rivers have now be turned into stagnant mud.”
He continued: “it is our duty as traditional leaders to stand by the president to help him fight galamsey out of this country, miners can go for permits from minerals commission from anywhere they want but they can not operate on their sites without our approval, we cannot allow people to mine in or close to water bodies because we are the custodians of the land and we owe our subjects that responsibility to protect the lands and Natural environment for them.”
Aburihene then entreated all chiefs to join the national campaign against galamsey.
“We not see the damming effects of this galamsey now but trust me our future generations Will put all the blame on us if they face difficulty in accessing potable water. The only legacy we can give our children and grandchildren is to protect the environment now for them for it to be habitable in future so all my fellow traditional leaders should join the fight to stop galamsey now.”
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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana