GALAMSEY MENACE ,ADANKRONOHE CALLS FOR GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION
The Adankronohene in Kade in the Kwaebibibrem Municipal Assembly of the Eastern Region, Osaberima Sarpong Kumankuma II, has called on President John Dramani Mahama, the Commander-In-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces to come to their aid as soon as possible to stop the galamseyers who are operating in the area.
According to him, galamsey is swallowing his community and has made a lot of complaints about the situation, but nobody has come to their rescue, hence pleading with the President of the land to step in and use his veto powers to let them cease operations to protect their lands and water reserves for future generations.
Osaberima Sarpong Kumankuma II further stated that why the menace escalating in his community was because the galamseyers were now mining inside the Birem River and causing damage to their lands, and something needed to be done about it immediately.
The Adankronohene urged the government to stop giving concessions to the miners in Accra to come to their communities and engage in illegal mining activities and destroy their lands and water bodies.
Osaberima Kumankuma II then suggested to President John Mahama that for the miners to embark on responsible mining the traditional rulers should be involved in the concession process to enable them to check and monitor their works to ensure they do what is expected of them. Other than that, they will continue disrespecting them and do whatever they want.
Osabarima Kumankuma recalls that in the year 2010, during the tenure of the late former President Atta Mills, the illegal mining activities on the Birem River led to severe flooding in the area, destroying lives and property.
He cited that due to the nature of flooding, the late President Atta Mills and his entourage used live boats to cross the flooding before they were able to access the situation, and it was an eyesaw.
Drawing parallels with the current situation, he admonished the government to treat the matter with utmost urgency and take concrete actions to address the devastating impact of illegal mining activities in the area.
Osaberima Kumankuma II warned that if the situation remained unchecked, history would repeat itself, and the community would continue to suffer dire consequences from these galamsey terrorists.
Before the complaint, the Municipal Security Council (MUSEC), led by the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Kwaebibibrem Municipal Assembly, Emmanuel Kofi Nti, conducted a thorough assessment of the site to evaluate the extent of the damage and explored strategies for land reclamation.
The visit revealed that mining activities had severely impacted the River Birem, necessitating immediate reclamation efforts to restore its natural flow and prevent flooding in the area.
In response, the MCE issued a direct warning to the miners, especially GCD Company Limited, ordering them to reclaim the land within 1 month.
“If they remain adamant about these directives, they will be arrested and arraigned before the court, and if they are arrested we don’t want to want to see anybody begging on their behalf to be released because people are nation wreckers,” he said.
Story by Kontihene Kofi Oboh
