Contrary to the believe that Government could bring an end to galamsey if it is minded to do so, the Managing Director of State Transport Company(STC), Nana Akomea thinks otherwise.
According to Nana Akomea, the fight is not easier as people think and it could take a long time to bring an end to the menace.
Speaking on “Kokrokoo” programme, Nana Akomea noted that the galamsey fight was earlier thought to be easy but now realized it is a difficult task demanding more effort to combat it.
He said, the number of people involved makes it difficult to win the fight anytime soon as Ghanaians would want it.
“It is not a fight we can win in about three months or a year. It’s become like a guerrilla warfare . . . I hear the number of people involved in galamsey exceeds 5 million. So, something that about 5 million people are doing across the country isn’t something you can stop in 3 months. So, the time has come for us to move away from that mentality that the galamsey is done by one or two people in a forest, thus we can surround them and arrest them,” he said.
He, however, believed that Ghana will not lose the fight and encouraged the leadership of the nation not to relinquish.
“The government is fighting it, so eventually there will be victory . . . We can’t end the fight today or tomorrow. The fight must continue . . . There have been successes but it’s not done yet. It’s like a moving target, so we must continue.”he added
Reports of galamsey activities destroying waterbodies and forest covers have been in the news, prompting government to take action against perpetrators.
The arrest of Aisha Huang, a galamsey queen who was repatriated in 2018 has raised eyebrows as her return raises question of the country’s seriousness in the fight against galamsey.
source: theGhanaianvoice.com
