Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor has described the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, under President John Mahama’s administration as unsatisfactory after one year in office.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with JoyNews’ Kwaku Asante on The Pulse on Thursday, Mr Jinapor said the scale of destruction to the country’s natural resources remains deeply troubling.
According to him, water bodies and forest reserves continue to come under sustained attack, an indication that existing interventions have fallen short of expectations.
“I think there are certain concerns out there that the fight is not as successful as it should be, and the evidence is clear. Menace is still out there, the forest reserves of our country are still under attack, the river bodies of our country are not better, and clearly, there is a lot more that has to be done,” he said.
On the issue of the declaration of a state of emergency, he said, “The whole issue is consistency in terms of declaring the state of emergency and all that; these are matters that have come up.”
“It is one year gone; if you ask me a pointed question about whether the fight against illegal small-scale mining has been better, I will say a big no,” he said.
Meanwhile, President John Mahama, in his recent public speaking, said the situation has improved.
He said that although the battle has been difficult and, at times, dangerous for enforcement teams, sustained efforts by state institutions and community-based actors are starting to pay off.
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