“Looking at the critical situation in which we find ourselves regarding the devastating effects of galamsey, the way to go is to freeze all licences for small-scale mining until there is sanity, then we can begin to think about how to make the system work properly,” he told the Daily Graphic in Accra.

Decentralisation

 Professor Asubonteng asked for the massive support for the fight against galamsey at the national level to be decentralised to the communities, stressing that it was when concerted efforts were made to engage local stakeholders that the battle could be won.

“As much as the government and other stakeholders such as the Media Coalition Against Galamsey, chiefs, civil society organisations and the security agencies need to be commended for waging a relentless war against the menace, it is important that we take the effort to the rural areas where illegal miners are.”

“It is in the rural areas that the water bodies are getting polluted and farmlands getting lost. The government should make it a top priority for Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to be at the centre of the fight so that they will keep the heat on the galamsey operators,” he said.

Political will

Touching on the alleged involvement of some powerful persons in the galamsey menace, he said the government ought to demonstrate more commitment to crack the whip on such people by ensuring that those found culpable  were dealt with.

Prof. Asubonteng said it was only when the supposed powerful people who were believed to be funding or aiding the activities of the illegal miners were clamped down that the menace could be controlled.

He urged the government to put in place measures to reintegrate the illegal miners who would lose their source of livelihood into the local communities in a manner that would not make them a nuisance to society.

MDGs

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ICEG, Mr Gideon Amissah, observed that the country stood the risk of losing out on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on reducing poverty and hunger, quality water and sanitation if the galamsey menace was not properly handled.

“If we have to preserve our environment, we need to take the war on galamsey away from Accra and get to the churches, the mosques, the palaces and to the family heads, because education about the adverse effects of the menace is key,” he said in a separate interview with the Daily Graphic.