GOVERNMENT HAS dismissed claims by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the galamsey fight is becoming a charade.
Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Kwaku Asomah-Cheremeh, says the opposition’s claim is unwarranted.
He explained that Government remains committed to the fight against illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.
He was addressing journalists at the Information Ministry on Thursday.
Outlining some achievements made in the fight against illegal mining, he says specifically the fight has yielded results observable along various parameters.
These includes the
confiscation of excavators nationwide and the banning of further importation of new excavators.
“The openly visible illegal mining operations nationwide are no longer witnessed,”he adds.
“Though some miscreants are believed to be still operating in far off forests, they continue to be pursued by the joint security teams regularly,” he indicates.
He noted that “the regular reports of galamsey deaths visible on the media landscape are now a thing of the past.”
Indeed, he explains that he low safety standards generally associated with galamsey would have meant that if the fight had been unsuccessful, the rule of thumb will be the continued reports of deaths in galamsey pits regularly.
“This has seized signaling that the foundation activity has been significantly quelled,”he says.
According to him, “it is therefore unwarranted for anyone to describe the fight against galamsey as a failed one and a betrayal of the trust of the Ghanaian people.”
He says “the converse is rather the fact on the ground and the Government will continue to rely on the support of the public to deal with this menace that threatens the survival of our country.”
BY Melvin Tarlue