‘Operation Halt II’ is a mission unlike no other. It involves engaging and stopping foes who are not soldiers but whose activities have far-reaching effects on the health of the nation.
With a sense of appreciation a key component of every military mission, the Chief Of The Defence Staff, Vice Admiral Seth Amoama could not afford not to visit the illegal mining grounds scattered across a wide axis.
The outcome of the visit he and his team undertook last week was as revealing as it was disturbing.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the illegal miners are intent in evolving their methods in a desperate bid to outwit the military.
Only novices in such matters would downgrade the seriousness of the crusade the military is undertaking to protect our water bodies and forests.
Those who have witnessed the degraded forests where the illegal mining activities were being carried out and the muddied water bodies would not hesitate to lend their support to the military as they carry out the task bestowed upon them by the Commander-In-Chief.
It is disturbing to observe that the illegal mining is now being undertaken under darkness and under armed guard. If this does not point at how much the illegal minders are willing to go to protect their turfs, we know of none.
There could not have been a better order than the ‘destroy all illegal mining equipment in forest reserves and on water bodies’ as issued by the military high command because the illegal miners are dauntless and stubborn. They could not care a hoot about the health of the nation and therefore ready to pull the trigger if that can secure for them continuous access to our water bodies and forest reserves.
This is not an over-flogged subject because it is about the health of the nation we call home. It is about conserving our water bodies and forests for ourselves and generations unborn.
The humane approach to ending illegal mining won’t succeed the discoveries by the confirmatory reconnaissance having showed beyond doubt.
We are in for a long haul in a ‘war’ we cannot afford not to win. Failure, which is not an option, will result in a restoration of the old order and therefore the loss of our forests and water bodies.
Operations such as fighting galamsey will have a few yet loud voices of dissent which should be ignored in the national interest.
We must begin to interrogate the motive of some particular foreigners for proceeding to illegal mining areas and to devise means of stopping them.
The advance-to-contact approach should not be the only approach. We must begin to starve the illegal miners of the logistics they need to perpetuate their killer occupations.