Stop galamsey now!

THE commitment of Okyehene, Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, to stop illegal small-scale mining, otherwise known in our local parlance as galamsey, in the Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area, is laudable. Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin is reported on the front page of the Daily Graphic on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 to have made the call for the arrest and prosecution of any chief who is found promoting illegal mining within his domain.

OSAGYEFUO Amoatia Ofori Panin noted that any chief found selling land or lands to people to engage in illegal mining should be made to face the full rigours of the law. We agree wholeheartedly with the Okyehene and we believe that our laws must be seen working.

FOR us on Today we hope chiefs in other mining communities will look at the steps taken by Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin to clamp down on illegal mining activities and do same. We believe that when our traditional rulers begin to assert themselves in these areas we would be making inroads in our quest to fight galamsey.

WE have become a nation that always waits for disaster to strike before acting. And immediately they occur we are found scrambling for space and time to have it addressed. That is sad! The practice of illegal mining has been with us for a long time with its attendant effects. And yet we cannot find a solution to it.

THERE have been cases where many innocent lives have been lost owing to activities of galamsey operators. We cannot understand why though it is considered illegal we have allowed the practice to grow with us. The sight of children, especially between the ages of 10-15 years prospecting for gold and other natural mineral resources leaves much to be desired.

RECENTLY in Kyebi the death of two children who got drowned in a pit abandoned by illegal miners was reported in the newspapers. The death of the children was attributed to the activities of galamsey operators. Why should somebody's illegal activities continue to claim lives of innocent Ghanaians? This is a question that should be put to our law enforcement agencies.

BESIDES creating pits which become death traps, the activities of illegal miners continue to be injurious to our environment. In mining communities their activities have contributed to the degradation of our environment. And in the face of all these they do not pay taxes to the state.

THE paper urges our law enforcement agencies to be proactive and intensify their operations on illegal miners. We believe that when illegal miners are arrested and prosecuted before law courts they will have a second thought on the ramifications of their operations. It is important that we as citizens also refrain from aligning ourselves with illegal mining activities.

THE time to act on illegal mining is now!