Convener for the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Dr. Ing. Kenneth Ashigbey has challenged the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to implement his policy plan to address illegal mining activities, popularly known as ‘galamsey’, before the December 7 general elections.
According to him, Ghanaians cannot wait until after the elections for the policies outlined in the manifestos of the NPP and National Democratic Congress to be implemented to address the galamsey crisis.
John Mahama has pledged to deploy Artificial Intelligence to fight illegal mining activities if he is elected president in the 2024 elections.
Dr Bawumia has also pledged to introduce a revised approach to curb illegal mining and preserve confiscated equipment, especially excavators if elected.
However, Dr Ing. Ashigbey said it is important for politicians to acknowledge the galamsey crisis and deal with it decisively.
He criticized politicians for their involvement in illegal mining activities, citing companies such as Akonta Mining and Heritage Imperial, which have evaded accountability despite numerous petitions.
“When you have a situation, where the state, the leadership does not deal with its own who are involved in it. Or all the big men who imported all of these excavators, then this is where we are going to go. Where then nature will start hitting back at us because it will impose a drought on us.
“At a time when your irresponsibility because you are going into the next election is at its height. And then what you start seeing are these pockets of drought. Already you have a situation where, if you are not careful, your grains are failing.
“So we cannot wait to say that these manifestos that we have seen, we want to wait until after the election before we start implementing them. Whether it’s coming from the current vice President or the ex-president, so, the decision is now,” he said on Channel One TV.
In a press statement signed and issued by the Central Regional Office of GWL on Friday, August 30, it explained that water sources have been polluted beyond reasoning limits, affecting processing and distribution for domestic and industrial use.
It further mentioned that the Sekyere Hemang Water Treatment Plantplant is producing only 7,500m³/day, a quarter of its capacity, causing severe inconvenience to customers.