Govt intensifies ‘war’ on galamsey  …Military, Small-scale Miners Association join ‘Operation Halt’ to fight illegal mining

Ptesident Nana Addo Dank­wa Akufo-Addo has directed the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and the Envi­ronmental Protection Agency, to suspend the enforcement of the Environmental Protection (Mining in Forest Reserves) Regulations, 2023 (L.I.2462), with immedi­ate effect.

Additionally, he has ordered the Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul, to deploy additional military forces to intensify the ongoing “Operation Halt”, which aims to curb illegal mining activities.

The operation would be bolstered by the deployment of naval boats on polluted river bodies to ensure the immediate cessation of all mining activities, legal or illegal, in and around these water bodies.

In a bid to enhance legal action against illegal mining activities, the President has further directed the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, to work with the Chief Justice to add more to the four courts dedi­cated to cases related to illegal mining.

These were contained in a statement is­sued by the Director of Communications at the Jubilee House, Eugene Arhin, in Accra yesterday to announce additional measures directed by the President to curb galamsey.

It said these actions had been taken in response to a press release issued by Or­ganised Labour on October 7, 2024, calling for an immediate halt of galamsey in and around water bodies and forest reserves.

“In a demonstration of government’s commitment to tackling the issue, President Akufo-Addo, through the relevant sector ministers, invited the leadership of Organ­ised Labour to a meeting held on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, at the Ministry of Em­ployment and Labour Relations.

Following the meeting, the President has, in a letter dated October 9, 2024, and addressed to the leadership of Organised Labour, outlined [these] measures to ad­dress their concerns,” the statement said.

It also said the government had urged Organised Labour to encourage all presi­dential candidates and their political parties to sign a pact, committing themselves to the fight against illegal mining as part of their election pledges.

“In light of these decisive actions, gov­ernment respectfully requests that Organ­ised Labour suspend its planned “strike action” on October10, 2024, and collabo­rate with government and other stakehold­ers to ensure the effective combat of the galamsey menace.

“President Akufo-Addo remains deter­mined to end illegal mining, and calls on all citizens, political leaders and stakeholders to unite in this critical national effort,” the statement said.

The statement from the presidency came hours after an earlier one issued by the Minister of Information, Ms Fatimatu Abu­bakar, that announced that the Small-Scale Miners Association of Ghana, would join the new phase of the “Operation Halt”, led by the Ghana Armed Forces.

Noting that “the government reasserts that river bodies and for­est reserves remain red zones”, the Minister said the government remained committed to the fight against illegal small-scale mining and pray for the support of all stakeholders to help win the fight.

The new phase of Operation Halt is to augment other measures announced by the government earlier this week, to curb illegal mining which has triggered a strike by organised labour.

These measures included directing sol­diers and other law enforcement agencies to flush out illegal miners from water bodies and forest reserves which remain “red zones” to mining activities.

Organised Labour, the Media Coalition Against Galamsey and a host of other institutions and associations have called for an end to the wanton destruction of the environ­ment and water bodies by illegal mining activities.

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