Member of the Alliance for Revolutionary Change (ARC), Dr. Michael Abu Sakara Foster, has bemoaned the nonchalant attitude towards land degradation resulting from illegal mining, otherwise known as ‘galamsey’ in the country.
He says the turning of the soil upside down as a result of the galamsey activities depicts an attempt “to walk on our heads.”
The destruction of the soil by mining activities, according to Dr. Abu Sakara, takes a minimum of fifty (50) years before it is restored.
He explains the top soil contains the nutrients needed for agricultural purposes and once they are turned upside down, they the bedrock which does not support agriculture comes up, rendering the soil useless.
Speaking with Captain Smart on Onua TV Thursday, April 18, 2024, Dr. Abu Sakara bemoaned the lackadaisical attitude towards reclaiming lands that have been used for indiscriminate illegal mining otherwise known as ‘galamsey’.
He contends that if for nothing at all, part of the funds stakeholders have made from illegal mining should be used to plant trees that can foster the soil’s processes of regaining its nutrients.
Dr. Abu Sakara noted that the only thing a turned up soil is good for is to plant cannabis which is also not legalised in Ghana.
“The bedrock of the soil which is underneath the earth cannot be used for agriculture. The soil nutrients are on the top soil and that has been turned upside down so we are attempting to walk on our heads by turning the soil upside down,” he said.
He explained that “they should reclaim the soil after mining the gold but they are not doing so. It takes a minimum of 50 years to restore a soil that has been destroyed. The top layer of the soil has a purpose so after turning it upside down, I destroys it. The only thing that does well in such soil is cannabis and that is not even legal in Ghana.”
Dr. Abu Sakara Foster, has joined forces with Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen’s Movement for Change and other movements to form the Alliance for Revolutionary Change for the 2024 presidential election.
In an earlier interview on TV3’s Hot Issues Sunday, April 14, 2024, Dr. Sakara said he believes this is the right time to right the wrongs bedeviling the country, having endured the hardships the two political parties –NPP and NDC –have subjected Ghana into for the past three decades and over.
“We have all been thinking about how we can form the vehicle that will be an alternative to the NPP and NDC and offer us something beyond what they have offered us so that again became the driving force.
“We know individually we may not have the wherewithal because the elections have now been heavily monetized so it is going to take a collective effort of people who are not on the other side, but now on non-aligned domain to come together rather than contest individually within that domain. So it’s a natural and organic process that happened and it has had its time,” he indicated.
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