Environment Minister calls for collaboration to tackling illegal mining
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, has called on other ministries to work collaboratively to tackle illegal mining (galamsey) in the country.
According to him, illegal mining was a multifaceted problem, which needs multifaceted solution.
“As the MEST lead in fighting galamsey, we are calling on other ministries like, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy, and Religious Affairs, Ministry for the Interior and Office of the Attorney-General and Ministry of Justice to work together to solve this problem,” he said.
The Minister made the call when he paid a working visit to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in Accra yesterday.
He noted that, working in a collaborative effort with these other ministries and relevant agencies would help cease illegal mining and curb the menace that had been caused by galamsey.
Mr Muhammed said the ministry was going to lead the fight against galamsey, due to its devastating impact on the environment, adding that, it was wrong to fight illegal mining without the participation of MEST and its agencies.
“We are going to walk our talk, it doesn’t matter who is engaged in galamsey activities, whether you belong to NDC or NPP, as long as the President has given us his absolute authority that we deal with those who are violating our laws as far as sustaining our environment is concerned we are going to take action against all involved,” he said.
He emphasised that, education was also important in the fight against illegal mining, adding that, his outfit was going to leverage the media and other means to sensitise the public about the impact of illegal mining on the environment.
Furthermore, the Minister added that, the ministry was going to work hand-in-hand with stakeholders to provide alternative sources of income for indigenes in the mining communities to reduce their involvement in this illegal activity.
Touching on restoring already polluted environment, he noted that, his outfit was going to introduce “Every child for a tree” initiative, adding that “children are very competitive at the basic level, If you give a child the responsibility to plant a tree, nurture the tree, no child will want his or her tree to be dead.”
Also, Mr Muhammed called on all the agencies under the ministry to present a detailed report of their ongoing projects to help speed up the works.
He urged management and staff of the authority to continue with their good works, stating that, MEST and all the authorities and agencies under it, have one mandate of protecting the environment and ensuring that the environment remains clean.
BY CECILIA YADA LAGBA
