Galamsay: Bodies Call For Declaration of State of Emergency on All Water Bodies Else…..

Media Coalition Against Galamsey, Catholic Bishops Conference, Christian Council of Ghana among others have called on government to declare a state of emergency on all water bodies failure of which the Coalition says it shall advise itself.

Addressing a news Conference in Accra on Wednesday, the groups demanded of government among others things to halt all small scale mining as well as repeal the LI 2462 authorizing mining in Forest reserves.

Leaderships of the groups making up the coalition including GJA President, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, Dr. Ken Ashigbey, Convener of the Coalition and President of Catholic Bishops Conference Most Rev. Mathew Gyamfi took turns to lament on how lack of political will to deal with the cancer has exacerbated the situation to alarming levels.

According to the group, a time will come Ghanaians will be licking clay as the nephelometric turbidity units( NTU ) of water has hit 14,000 instead of the standard 2,000 NTI, hence the need for government to halt galamsey now.

Below is summary of their statement.

Today, the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, The Forum, The Trades Union Congress, The Ghana Federation of Labour, Kasa Initiative Ghana, The Ghana Catholic Bishop’s Conference, The Christian Council of Ghana, The Office of the Chief Imam, BRACE, EcoConscious Ghana, The One Ghana Movement, The CSOs Platform on SDGs, The Peasant Farmer Association of Ghana,  and other CSOs are saying enough is enough.

Enough of the government’s indifference to the fight against galamsey, the rape of our forest and river bodies and its focus on re-election. Enough of the disregard for Ghanaian lives lost to galamsey-associated fatalities, poisoning conflict, and human rights abuses.

The poisoning of rivers and streams and the destruction of our forests through the government’s tacit and active policies have reached crisis proportions and demand urgent and unwavering action to restore confidence in leadership and uphold the rule of law in the country.