The Center for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA) has observed with great concern the wanton destruction of forests and water bodies by entities involved in mining activities in the country. This trend of grievous environmental degradation, which has been noticeable in the past decade, has now reached alarming proportions, eliciting public outcry and condemnation from civil actors, the clergy, and well- meaning members of the public.
Ghana has lost a quarter of its vegetative cover since 2000, and this situation is expected to be worsened by uncontrolled mining activities, especially in forest reserves, amidst the growing effects of climate change. Though the government is implementing afforestation initiatives and land reclamation programs in an attempt to address these imminent challenges, this is just a drop in the ocean and in no way a cure for the impending environmental doom.
Only a third of Ghanaians have access to pipe-borne water, with a significant portion of the population relying on open water sources such as dams and rivers. Most of these sources are now heavily contaminated with pollutants, which could result in dire public health consequences with reports indicating that Ghana risks importing water from the year 2030.
CenPOA strongly believes that the recent spike in environmental destruction caused by mining activities is a direct result of government policy failure. The government's approach to sanitizing the small-scale mining sector, which saw the implementation of mining sector reforms, including the legalization of all forms of mining activities to aid better supervision and effective regulation, has largely been unsuccessful.
Ghana has a centuries-old mining history that predates its independence, with little or no environmental concerns in the past. Why are we plagued with environmental catastrophes midway through the implementation of these reforms, which have seen an unprecedented increase in mining licenses from about 70 since independence to 2,251 in less than a decade? This is obviously not a coincidence but a result of a poorly implemented strategy that prioritized quantity over quality. Ghana has a good mining regulatory framework but has always faced challenges with effective implementation and supervision.
The issue at stake is not just about illegal mining or galamsey since there are reports of many legally registered small-scale mining companies using crude mining methods and being involved in environmentally dangerous mining practices. There are also reports that very prominent persons, including politicians, are neck-deep in mining activities, using their influence to break the law with impunity and making this cancer very difficult to fight. In fact, galamsey is now an organized crime and will require very drastic measures to be able to curb it.
We therefore call on the President to declare a state of emergency and immediately ban all small-scale mining activities as a first step to addressing this problem. Secondly, the government should commission a large-scale audit of mining activities to ascertain and quantify the disruptive impact of these activities on the environment as a baseline for the implementation of environmental restoration programs. Lastly,
authorities should begin active and swift prosecution of violators and perpetrators of environmental crimes to serve as a deterrent to others.
In conclusion, we at CenPOA believe that the nation loses nothing if these mining activities are stopped because the gold will not disappear. Ghana’s mineral deposits date back centuries and do not belong to this generation alone, so why are we in a hurry to deplete everything? If the pursuit of these minerals is threatening our health and existence, let's leave them in the ground for a future generation that will be responsible enough to mine them sustainably.
CenPOA is a nonpartisan, nongovernmental civil organization founded to promote civic engagement and participation in public administration. It harnesses public views to influence policy discourse and provides opportunities to keep the public educated and well-informed.
For more information or to obtain an interview with CenPOA, please contact 0241185635 or [email protected], or visit www.cenpoa.org.
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