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Friday, March 29, 2024

Galamsey War: Israel Offers Intel Support |

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Israel, through its mission in Ghana, says it is willing to assist the Akufo-Addo-led government in the area of intelligence and rehabilitation of river bodies in the country’s anti-galamsey war.

According to Israeli Ambassador to Ghana Ami Mehl, illegal small-scale mining, known as galamsey, is not just a menace locally but affects the rest of the world.

He noted that galamsey as a business has thrived due to corruption and Ghana can progress if it is able to fight against the canker.

Speaking on World Affairs on Class91.3FM on Friday 26 May, Mr Mehl said: “The galamsey fight is not a local issue… The environment is not local. The poison that is going into the rivers also goes into the sea, and the ocean also goes to other countries, so it is not a local issue.

“There is galamsey of gold, but there is also the galamsey of the sea. All those huge ships that are robbing the fishery [industry] and destroying the ocean is also a kind of galamsey which is destroying the economy of Ghana and destroys the possibilities of many people [working] as fishermen. And part of the problem is corruption, because I’m sure that those people who are doing that kind of galamsey work of gold or fish get some support from people who have to fight against them. It’s not something I can prove but you cannot work without that kind of support.”

Touching on what Israel can do to assist Ghana’s fight against galamsey, Mr Mehl said: “You know that you have international backing to what you are doing. We have the technology and experience in many things. So if we are talking about fighting galamsey, if you need intelligence, we have the technology that will give you the intelligence that you need.

“We are talking about the damage to the environment and it’s a serious damage… We’re talking about water being poisoned by mercury and these are things that are difficult to fight. But Israeli companies, including companies that are already here in the market, have the technology to fight it. Here, you cannot do a half-job: it’s either you clean the water or you have dirty water. You cannot have half-clean water, 50-50. It’s [either] 100 per cent clean or dirty… So if we are talking about fighting galamsey and rehabilitation of the rivers and the waters in Ghana, we can do it and we can guarantee that Ghana will have clean rivers in quite a short time, but it costs money. It is not a present from God. God makes miracles, but people have to pay for the miracles.”

The NPP government has launched a war on galamsey. Since assuming office, it has taken a number of steps against galamsey including suspending the issuance of new licences for all small-scale mining in the country. It has also successfully seen over 1000 illegal mining equipment withdrawn from mining sites across the country.

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