The Minister-Designate for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, has harshly criticized the way the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) government handled the battle against “galamsey,” or illicit mining.
Despite promising to risk his presidency to tackle the threat, former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was widely criticized for not fulfilling his 2017 pledge to combat galamsey.
When Mr. Armah-Kofi Buah appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament on January 27, he acknowledged the NPP’s early efforts but called their battle a “failure.”
He denounced illicit mining operations as “unacceptable,” especially those that impact water sources, and emphasized the necessity of taking strong action to address the problem.
“Indeed, the NPP administration started very well, there was a ban on mining places, it was six months, and it extended to nine months,” he noted.
“But at the end of the 8 years, the outcome is what we all know—degraded lands, polluted water bodies, and wanton destruction of forest reserves. These are facts that indicate that that fight against was a failure.”
Mr Armah-Kofi Buah promised to take firm action against the threat and to put long-term solutions in place that would safeguard Ghana’s water resources and ecosystem.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Joseph Asare
