President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says his government’s fight against galamsey is not meant to render Ghanaians jobless but to ensure safe mining.
Addressing workers at the May Day celebration at the Black Star Square Monday, he said his government will purge the country of the practice blamed for the pollution of water bodies.
He said government will no longer tolerate further degradation of the environment by galamsey operators.
“I have not yet met anyone who is engaged in galamsey, who is satisfied with the degradation of our land and our environment that currently come with galamsey,” he said.
The uncompromising posture of the President on illegal mining has been condemned by some of the operators.
Some illegal miners in the Eastern Regional town of Akwatia have served notice that they will vote out the President and the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) if he does not soften his stance.
They say the galamsey fight will put them out of work which will also affect their dependants.
The Small Scale Miners Association in Kumasi has said it will petition the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to prevail on government to reconsider its position.
Ghana’s water bodies and forests have borne the brunt of the destructive activities of the illegal miners.
The Tano River in the Brong Ahafo Region has dried up for the first time in 40 years, a development residents have blamed on galamsey.
The Brim River in the Eastern Region and Ankobrah River in the Western Region have been muddied that experts say it will cost the nation more money to purify them for consumers.
The Ghana Water Company has said the country will be importing water from its neighbours in 2020 if the practice is not ended.
The President who had earlier called the bluff of the galamsey operators said although his government will allow small-scale mining in the country, it will have to be done in a safe manner.
"We hold the land in trust for generations yet unborn," he said, adding his government is arranging for small scale mining to be done in a more sustainable way.
President Akufo-Addo said the sustainable small-scale mining regime government has envisaged will protect the country's environment while at the same time ensuring the miners get fair prices for their minerals.
He thanked Ghanaians and the media for living up to his call on them to be "citizens, not spectators" in his inaugural speech in January.
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