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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has admitted that the fight against illegal mining otherwise referred to as galamsey, is a difficult one which would need all-hands-on-deck approach to win.
Dr John Kingsley Krugu, the Executive Director of the Agency, told Parliament’s Assurance Committee in Accra yesterday that until all stakeholders came together against the menace, the quest to end the pollution of water bodies, the depletion of forests and the degradation of arable lands would be a mirage.
“Galamsey is a difficult challenge. The more you try to arrest persons engaged in it, the more people move into it. I feel sad about the state of our water bodies but it is all of us as Ghanaians who have that collective responsibility of dealing with it.
“The responsibility for seeing a different result does not lie with a single agency. I think it is a collective responsibility of all of us. If all of us are not happy with what we are seeing, we all have to take the needed action to correct it,” Dr Krugu stated.
His call comes on the back of government’s renewed effort to tackle the menace following pressure from Organised Labour and Civil Society.
According to him, the galamsey industry is multi-faceted, needing the involvement of many agencies along the value chain to deal with the situation.
Pointing accusing fingers at each other, he noted, would not bolster well for the campaign against the menace which has left major water sources polluted.
An assessment by the Agency, he said indicates that the miners involved in the illegality were not permitted by the EPA, “so nobody can say we have failed,” he stated.
On monitoring, however, Dr Krugu said it has been difficult tracing the illegal miners as a result of the Agency’s personnel constraints.
Even when they are able to locate the illegal miners, he said “they are mostly armed and pose a threat to officers so we engage the national security”.
As difficult as the campaign has become, Dr Krugu said the Agency has not despaired in its commitment to ensure that miners complied with the environmental protocols.
The EPA, he said currently boasts of 700 staff, 800 short of the 1,500 it needs to effectively undertake its mandate.
“So there are capacity challenges but every now and then, we are making efforts to make sure we increase our workforce, get equipment, and deploy technology to be able to get to every corner of this country and to protect the environment,” he explained.
He urged the Committee to advocate for the amendment of the EPA Act which is before the House, to elevate it to the status of an Authority to be able to
Dr Krugu revealed that the chemicals illegal miners use in their operations, especially cyanide, is smuggled from Burkina Faso.
To this end he entreated the National Security apparatus to tighten its noose to prevent the influx of the chemical into the country.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
