The Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has thrown its support behind Citi FM’s campaign to compel government to end illegal mining activities, popularly known as galamsey in the country.
Citi FM on Monday launched a campaign against the galamsey menace. Dubbed #StopGalamseyNow, the campaign calls on government to undertake five steps to clamp down on the menace which is destroying the county’s land and water resources, and may see Ghana resorting to the importation of clean water in the next two decades.
CDD-Ghana announced this via its Twitter handle:
CDD-Ghana officially joins @Citi973’s campaign on the fight against illegal small scale mining, popularly known as galamsey #StopGalamseyNow— CDD-Ghana (@CDDGha) April 3, 2017
.@Citi973 The devastating effects of galamsey on the environment & livelihoods and the country in general are visible to us. #StopGalamseyNow— CDD-Ghana (@CDDGha) April 3, 2017
.@Citi973 CDD-Ghana calls on all state agencies, such as Minerals Commission & law enforcement agencies to deal with this menace #StopGalamseyNow— CDD-Ghana (@CDDGha) April 3, 2017
.@Citi973 The Council of State to should take up the issue & support @NAkufoAddo to sustain the fight against this national threat #StopGalamseyNow— CDD-Ghana (@CDDGha) April 3, 2017
Citi FM’s five demands include:
The total cessation of all small and medium scale mining for a period of six months
The cessation of the issuance of new mining licences for a year
The reclassification of mining categories to reflect the use of new/larger equipment
The allowance of water bodies to regenerate their natural ecology
Tree planting and a land reclamation project
Ghanaians join Citi FM’s #StopGalamseyNow campaign
When the campaign was launched on Monday, various groups and individuals joined in raising awareness on the menace.
Organisations such as the International Central Gospel Church (ICGC), and some other Ghanaians took to Twitter to express their concerns about the menace, which is destroying various water bodies and the environment in general.
Galamsey menace
There have been intense pressure on government to deal with the galamsey menace.
Currently, some water treatment plants have been shut down over activities of illegal miners, which have rendered water bodies from which the plants harvest water for processing useless.
Watchers of the sector have further lamented that if such activities are not stopped, Ghana may soon be importing water from neighboring countries.
The galamsey menace has also led to the destruction of many farmlands, which serve as livelihood for a number of families.
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