Missing Excavators Saga: No one involved will be shielded – President

0
29

By
Iddi Yire, GNA

Accra, Feb. 20, GNA
– President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday assured Ghanaians that no
one involved the missing excavators saga will be shielded, no matter what their
position is or political colours.

He said the
Inter-Ministerial Community Against Illegal Mining along with Operation
Vanguard were determined to disrupt illegal mining (galamsey) activities by
confiscating equipment deployed for those activities.

Delivering his
Fourth State of the Nation Address to Parliament on, Thursday, in Accra, the
President said about 12,000 chanfan machines that go under the river and scoop
up the river bed have so far been seized and destroyed off site.

“Some excavators
were also seized and a number of them have gone missing, the police have
arrested and charged some of the alleged culprits and investigations are
ongoing,” the President stated.

The
Inter-Ministerial Coalition had been working hard and chalked some successes,
he said, adding that, Operation Vanguard had been largely successful even
though problems still remained.

Since its launch in
2017, mining with impunity on water bodies in forest reserve had declined;
while more than 4,000 miners had received training in sustainable mining.

The number of
Ghanaians who were dying in makeshifts mining pits had reduced by about 90 per
cent.

Giving the
background to the Operation, he said:“When we came to power in January 2017,
galamsey activities were rampant in parts of the country; our lands, forests
and river bodies were being systematically degraded and polluted without any
care and this had been there for several years,” the President said.

“Indeed, the
previous NDC Government had given up the fight against galamsey.

“We determined that
this was an intolerable situation and we owed it to generations yet unborn to
tackle the menace and save our environment,” he said.

President
Akufo-Addo, however, explained that he was very much aware that the lure of
gold, once it took hold, drove away all rationality.

“…That is not a
Ghanaian characteristic, it is a human characteristic that is being displayed
all over the world throughout the ages.

“I was, therefore,
not under any illusion about the size and scope of the problem we were taking
on. But I was cheered by the support from a large part of the population that
has also recognised the danger posed by the degradation of our lands and water
bodies, and the needless deaths of young people, who were being buried alive in
make shift mining pits”.

He, therefore,
welcomed, in particular, the Media Coalition, which was formed in July 2017 to
help in the fight galamsey and appealed to members not to be daunted by the
difficulties in the fight.

The President
explained that the battle they launched was not against mining, thus it would
be unrealistic for anyone to suggest that there should be no mining in Ghana.

“The Almighty having
blessed us with all these precious minerals must surely be in agreement that we
find ways to use them to develop our country and for the benefit of our
communities.

“However, taking the
minerals out should not lead to the destruction of our water bodies and forests
or endanger the sustainable existence of our country,” he said.

It was obvious, he
said, that small scale mining had always taken place in communities, but the
introduction of the Chanfan had turned serene streams into ugly toxic muddy
fluttery ponds, which was unacceptable.

“The threat posed by
galamsey to our country is great but we cannot shirk our responsibilities in
dealing with it,” President Akufo-Addo said.

GNA