30 October 2008
editorial
Somewhere last year, the Western Regional Security Council (WRSC) banned illegal gold mining, popularly known as "galamsey" in the the region. Soldiers were dispatched to the affected areas especially Prestea and Tarkwa to enforce the ban.
A year into the enforcement of this ban, almost all the political parties have added a political twist to this ban, by promising that when they come to power, galamsey operations would be revived. Considering the high unemployment rate in the country, The Chronicle sympathises with the plight of the illegal miners as a result of the ban.
Galamsey miners no doubt were sustaining the local economies where they operated before the ban. At a point in time, as much as over 50,000 people were engaged in galamsey operations in Prestea and its immediate environs. Food vendor business was booming in the town, thus helping the women who were engaged in it to sustain their families. This means that when the ban was imposed, a lot of the women lost their income, which is very painful.
Whilst acknowledging these, one cannot also lose sight of the fact that these illegal miners were doing more harm than good to the environment. Their operations had no action plan to protect the environment. Anyone who had been to Prestea would attest to the fact that these illegal miners have caused a lot of damage to the environment. The indiscriminate holes they have dug serve as a death trap to any first time visitor to the area. They were also not properly handling chemicals such as mercury among others, thus putting their own lives in danger.
Considering what we have enumerated above, The Chronicle finds it very strange for political parties to keep on assuring these illegal miners that their operations would be restored when they come to power. The present generation has the responsibility to protect our environment for the generation yet unborn, therefore, we must be careful with decisions we take today. Politicians would be condoning the wrong things if they keep on assuring these people about the revival of their business.
When galamsey business was at its peak, children who should have been in school left the classroom to engage in illegal mining because of the quick money they got. This nearly affected education in the Wassa West district in the Western Region. The Chronicle thinks the politicians should rather be promising the illegal miners with skills training that would help them gain employment or become self employed.
On the other hand, if any party which would win power still insists that galamsey must go on, then we suggest that their operations be carefully regulated, so that they would not destroy the environment as we are now witnessing. They must be compelled to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment (EPA) for the relevant authorities to monitor them. Allowing them to do whatever they pleases, would surely spell doom for this country in future.
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