Former Member of Parliament for Tema East, Titus Nii Kwartei Glover, has blamed elements within the ruling New Patriotic Party for the government’s failure to defeat illegal mining.
According to the former MP, while some members of the party are embroiled in the galamsey menace, those appointed at the local level to fight the menace have failed to discharge their mandate.
“The difficulty is our own people in there. My own NPP people. Do you think I am afraid to talk about it? It is my own NPP people who are making the fight against galamsey difficult. It is a fact. The law says don’t mine on our river bodies.
“If the soldiers are sent in to drive away the galamseyers and they leave, the District Security Council led by the MCE what do they do? The Regional Security Council is also responsible for security at that level what do they do? So every time soldiers have to be moved from Accra to these areas to fight the menace? That is not good,” he said on Adom TV’s morning programme.
Rampant illegal mining activities have resulted in the degradation of several forest covers and the pollution of various water bodies.
This has resulted in a renewed public discussion on illegal mining activities.
Various calls have been made for the government to take drastic steps to curb the menace.
Last week, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo met with members of the National House of Chiefs and MMDCEs in galamsey areas.
The meeting by the president was to fashion out some solutions to the galamsey issues.
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