Mr. Sam Nartey George, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ningo-Prampram, has advised President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to drop the propaganda and get down to business in the galamsey war.
President Akufo-Addo, he believes, is just giving lip service to the battle against illicit small-scale mining, regarded locally as galamsey, rather than confronting it head-on.
He claims that President Akufo-Addo is just sending Ghanaians good “soundbites” rather than taking real steps.
The lawmaker from Ningo-Prampram insisted that those behind the threat are government appointees or people affiliated with the ruling New Patriotic Party, and urged the President to crack the whip as a warning to others.
“Mr. President, the galamsey menace is being perpetrated by your party’s national and provincial leaders, party members, presidential staffers, and former ministers. They are the ones who carry out small-scale mining and pollute our waterways. So, Mr. President, back up your words with actions. Work with your own appointees and quit showing us soundbites and offer us concrete action if you intend to tackle galamsey.”
“The fact is, Mr. President, the galamsey is being perpetrated by your party’s members. Nobody in the NDC is involved and we have little power over the security forces that support the illicit miners. Excavators are not manufactured in this country; they are all imported via the terminal. So, who is approving the importation of such excavators? Isn’t it possible for the government to impose a moratorium on the importation of all excavators if it is really dedicated to combating the threat?”
On Thursday, April 15, 2021, Mr. Sam George made the announcement on Citi TV’s Breakfast Daily schedule.
His remarks follow the President’s expectation that the current National Consultative Dialogue would produce a stronger plan for coping with galamsey activities once and for all.
“I hope that as a result of this first consultative dialogue, we will be able to forge a national consensus around a national policy on small-scale mining that promotes a responsible, viable, and environmentally sustainable small-scale mining industry that avoids the use of mercury, ‘changfangs,’ and excavators, prohibits foreign involvement, and rejects the destruction of our forested areas.”
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SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
