A Case Study Of "Comic Relief"; The Launch Of "Blue Water Guards" By The Lands And Natural Resources Minister

Ordinarily, I didn't want to add my voice to the ongoing talk about the galamsey menace and some of the perceived government intervention programs to combat and nip it in the bud.

I have written severally on this life-threatening issue of environmental destruction through the activities of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey in the Country.

Frankly speaking, this menace has the tendency to create more health challenges since whatever we do in the environment has a ripple effect on the survival of humans and our water bodies that are affected immensely by these galamseyers.

To delve deeper into the meat of this epistle hinged on the above-mentioned subject matter of concern to every Tom Dick and Harry in the Country who are really concerned about the continuous destruction of our natural resources with impunity and without fear.

Some described this phenomenon as a bread and butter-issue since those who are engaged in it illegally have the temerity to even defend it as the only way of livelihood to cater to their needs.

My commentary on the government's lackadaisical approaches adopted in the past and the current government's measures bring a lot of questions than viable reforms to tackle the galamsey menace tactfully with consistency and determination.

Some of the measures were the involvement of Join Military and Police Taskforce i.e., Operation Halt, Operation Vanguard, and Operation Galamstop. All these came with their challenges, and the menace continues to fester with pollution and destruction of farmlands and Forest reserves.

The current administration led by President Mahama also promised to avert this looming threat of illegal mining, and he, in one of his engagements with Ghanaians, thought about the use of AI to fight the devastating effects of galamsey in the Country.

Amusingly, the minister for Lands and Natural Resources recently launched another way to combat the consequences of illegal mining through the engagement of some youth called "Blue Water Guards".

These energetic youth who were passed out by the minister, as we were told, were trained within three weeks to help fight against galamsey and its related activities in the Regions noted to be affected heavily.

Many have raised genuine concerns with the seriousness of the minister and the government since security agencies who were engaged and trained in how to handle weapons didn't get it easy in the line of their duties effectively.

In all honesty, I described this launch by the minister as a case study of "comic relief" and another waste of taxpayers' money to be spent on this fruitless exercise of training 460 youth as "Blue Water Guards".

This is quite intriguing and perplexing to some extent, especially with the people trained to do this wasteful adventure. The questions lingering on the minds of Ghanaians are as follows; Are these people physically fit? Can they handle weapons? Is the three weeks of training enough for them, Do they have the expertise?

Largely, your guess is as good as mine devoid of glaring partisan politics. The approach by the government led by the Minister, Hon. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, is mind-blowing, looking at this concert that was organized as part of measures to fight the devastating effects of illegal mining activities.

There are more questions and the level of seriousness by the government looking at the kind of noise that was made in opposition simply to sound good in the eyes of the general public. But being at the helm of affairs for the past three months has exposed the dishonesty and insincerity of President Mahama and the sector minister.

Clearly, they thought the fight was a walk in the park but time has really exposed them, especially with the engagement of their Party footsoldiers as "Blue Water Guards" to help in curbing the the magnitude of destruction carried out by NDC sympathizers.

Moreover, how would such a group of Party faithful train as "Blue Water Guards" to withstand those engaged in the galamsey? This move by the minister is laughable, to say the least, taking an unbiased stance and the kind of sophisticated weapons used by these galamseyers.

I personally take this ill-thought idea as a way to please their Party footsoldiers and not necessarily to nip these life-threatening activities by the galamseyers along the water bodies and areas where it's out of control.

What's worth noting is the havoc caused by these galamseyers who destroy the land and water bodies that some people rely on for survival. It's actually unfortunate for such a weak approach to be adopted by the minister as the antidote to tackle head-on the galamsey menace.

To conclude, this current situation of illegal mining requires concerted efforts devoid of unnecessary drama and comic relief tactics. It's quite disheartening that the voices that spoke against the previous government are mute and unconcerned about the fight.

Let's come together with the right frame of mindset to tackle and deal with it once and for all. Ghana deserves the best and we must preserve our water bodies and forest reserves for the future.

Shalom!
Abdulai Abdul-Razak
Tamale South Constituency
[email protected]