A member of the communication team of the National Democratic Congress, Chief Biney, has called on President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo to make public the details of his anti-galamsey action plan.
He said forming an anti-galamsey taskforce with a “coded” name does not by itself win the fight against the illegal mining.
He argued that it takes a holistic approach with detailed action plan to combat the phenomenon that’s eating deep in the fabric of the nation’s resource.
He maintains that the taskforce will only succeed in chasing out miners whose livelihood depends on legal small-scale mining business, a situation he feared may cause innocent miners to be victimized.
Commenting on the alleged killing of a 37-year-old man by the galamsey taskforce at Obuasi in the Ashanti Region, Chief Biney explained that: “It is not only forming a taskforce that shows that you want to fight and win the war against galamsey. No, it doesn’t work like that.
“Government must provide us a detailed policy document as to how it intends eradicating what the president in opposition told us he would come and strengthen. He must tell us the plan.”
The President in his resolve to end illegal mining, ordered for the formation of a military-police combined taskforce deployed to the Eastern, Western and the Ashanti regions where illegal mining is high.
The ‘Operation Vanguard’ taskforce has been at work since their deployment and several arrests are reported to have been made so far.
However, reports have it that the taskforce is on a mission to avenge the death of one of their own, a story which has since being refuted by the Public Relations Officer of Operation Vanguard, Major Gariba Pabi.
But the NDC communicator told Bright Kwesi Asempa, the host of Onua FM’s morning show that there is no clear-cut plan as to how the taskforce should deal with the illegal miners.
He added that even if there is, then it is not public.
He has expressed fears that the taskforce is likely to face challenges if proper education is not done to psyche up residents of areas identified as galamsey prone.
“We all want this menace to stop, but there was no education as to the presence of the taskforce in those places. My fear is they will end up attacking even legal miners who are doing small-scale mining, so the government must come out to tell all of us what the plan is.
“As it is now, if people wake up and see military men around, how do you think they will react. We all know what happens if people in the hinterland see or hear of military presence.”
He added: “It is rather sad that the President has turned against the galamsey operators when he was promised to make life easier for them should they help him win the 2016 elections.”
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