The government must prioritise going after the financiers of the illegal small-scale mining, Awula Serwah, Coordinator, Eco-Conscious Citizens, has said.
She made the point that the illegal mining will not stop if bankrollers aren’t arrested.
“We need to go after the financiers of galamsey,” she said on the Key Points on Tv3 Saturday November 22.
She further stated that ‘We are facing an existential threat due to the activities of illegal miners. It’s a shame that we don’t have adequate gear to fight this canker.”
The Coordinator of Eco-Conscious Citizens, Awula Serwah, said that the fight against illegal mining should involve community members and activists.
She said the community members know all those involved in the practice.
“We need to act now, we need to take the necessary actions now. Harness the support of the community and deal with those financing it,” she said.
She further noted that the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) is under-resourced in the fight against illegal mining.
Awula Serwah said that NAIMOS does not even have a number to reach them to give them information.
NAIMOS was set up as part of the government’s renewed efforts to combat illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
Lands Minister Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah said NAIMOS would serve as the central command hub to coordinate the operations of the military, police, and other security agencies involved in the nationwide clampdown on illegal small-scale mining.
But Awula Serwah said “NAIMOS is under-resourced, so even when communities are pleading with them to come and deal with the situation, they are unable to do so.”
She added, “You need to properly resource NAIMOS, and when they are attacked, something should be done about it. They don’t even have a number you can reach them on.”
Awula Serwah also questioned the political will in the fight against galamsey.
Without the political will and commitment, it will be difficult, she said.
She further observed that the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) is under-resourced in the fight against galamsey.
Awula Serwah said there is no need to make excuses for illegal miners on the back they it is a source of their livelihoods.
“We should stop making excuses for environmental terrorists, some say they don’t have a livelihood,” she said.
Also speaking on the same show, head of the Western Region Forestry Commission, Nana Poku Bosompim, said that the time has come for the Commission to be resourced enough to fight the illegal miners.
He says they lack bulletproof vests and other tools to enable them to go into the forest to deal with the weapon-wielding illegal miners.
“The time has come to retool the Forestry Commission…my team members do not even have bulletproof vests,” he said.
