Small Scale Miners Association has dared government to as a matter of urgency arrest any chief found culpable in illegal mining activity known in local parlance as galamsey in the country.
This, according to President of the Association, Ben Annan is the only way the menace cannot stop.
His comment is in reaction to measures being put in place by government to end galamsey which has polluted water bodies across the country.
Minister for Lands and Forestry, John Peter Amenu, announced he intends to tackle illegal mining with the aid of drones.
Ghana is losing its forest and river bodies to activities of illegal miners, a development experts have said will adversely affect the country in the coming years.
But some chiefs were selling out parcels of land to illegal miners to mine and this is leading to environmental degradation.
Due to this, Ben Annan urged government to tackle the problem from the root by arresting the chiefs involved.
“government must arrest chiefs involved in galamsey if they are serious because that is the only way this will end but if you keep arresting these Chinese miners, it will not solve the problem” he fumed.
The Small Scale Miners President bemoaned how some chiefs eased out cocoa farms and other rich lands to the illegal miners to enrich themselves to the detriment of their subjects.
Mr. Annan said the political will is also needed to end the canker in the area adding that the temporal swoops being undertaken by the security personnel are not making the needed impact.
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Source: Ghana/Adom News
