An investigative environmental journalist for the Multimedia Group, Erastus Asare Donkor, appeared on VoA’s Straight to Talk Africa show to discuss his documentary “Destruction for Gold,” which sheds light on illegal mining, also known as Galamsey, in Ghana.
The edition of Straight Talk Africa focused on journalists making a difference by reporting on environmental crises in Africa.
During the interview, Erastus highlighted the complexity of the issue, stating that those most affected by environmental issues, such as illegal mining, often rely on such activities for their livelihoods.
This conflict of interest makes it challenging to garner public interest in environmental stories, particularly those related to illegal mining.
“Many of them reply on illegal mining, so there are that conflict of interest to stage a demonstration and that is why people will not show much interest in environmental stories, especially illegal mining.”
He also discussed the difficulty in securing funding for documentaries on such topics, noting that while his company, the Multimedia Group, has supported him, economic constraints have made it challenging to produce the documentaries.
Additionally, many potential sponsors in Ghana are hesitant to get involved due to political sensitivities surrounding the issue.
“It’s difficult getting funds to do these documentaries and my company the Multimedia Group has been supporting me, but the economic crisis has set in, and we had to write proposals but in Ghana many companies turned us down because they do not want to be politically linked with it,” he said.
Talking further, Erastus further emphasized the risks involved in investigating illegal mining, as journalists often encounter armed individuals in the field.
Despite these challenges, he stressed the importance of bringing attention to the issue, particularly considering the severe environmental damage caused by illegal mining.
The investigative journalist explained that illegal miners often bypass regulatory processes, such as obtaining permits from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and disregard buffer zone policies, leading to widespread pollution of rivers and streams.
The pollution levels are so high that they exceed safe drinking water standards, impacting farmers who rely on these water sources for irrigation.
“Almost all major rivers and streams are highly polluted and per the data from Ghana water resources commission we see turbidity rising from 500 NTU to 8000 NTU at the river Ankobra and the accepted level is 5 NTU for drinking water so you can imagine,” he said.
Erastus acknowledged the fear some journalists have about reporting on illegal mining but emphasized the importance of public interest in motivating journalists to tackle such challenging topics.
Watch the video below:
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