General News of Thursday, 20 May 2021

Source: peacefmonline.com

Galamsey fight: Continue burning excavators; It'll come to haunt you! - Kabila to gov't

Burning excavator play videoBurning excavator

James Kwabena Bomfeh, a former Acting General Secretary of the Convention People's Party (CPP), has reiterated his position on the government's fight against galamsey menace in Ghana.

As a result of the galamsey activities, the country's river bodies have been polluted making it difficult to get drinkable water.

Aside from the contamination of the river bodies, the illegal miners have also destroyed the forest reserves.

Their activities are having bad effects on the health and development of the nation.

Due to this, two hundred (200) soldiers have been deployed to the mining areas to remove all person mining illegally as part of the government's efforts for the river bodies to return to their natural purest state and the forest reserves to be restored.

The soldiers, commencing their work, have engaged in an operation dubbed ''Operation Halt'' aimed at stopping all galamsey activities.

As part of Operation Halt, the soldiers have been sanctioned to burn all excavators belonging to the illegal miners.

Recently, a video surfaced on social media showing some excavators allegedly owned by the National Women's Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kate Gyamfua set on fire.

These actions are to serve as a deterrent to prospective illegal miners.

But to Kabila, burning the excavators is unlawful.

Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', he outlined how the Military should handle the machines belonging to the illegal miners.

He accentuated that the taskforce must apply the laws of the land in executing the President's directive to remove the illegal miners and their machines.

Kabila argued burning the excavators is an illegality which shouldn't be condoned by the government.

To him, this is sending a wrong signal to the public and so cautioned the government not to justify the actions of the taskforce, stressing it will boomerang on them.

''Mark my words; I'm going to be prophetic. Continue burning, it will come to haunt you," he warned.