Government introduces initiative to reclaim lands degraded by galamseyers – Samuel Abu Jinapor
By Samuel Nyimagbo
The minister of Lands and Natural Resources , Hon. Samuel Abu Jinapor has noted that the government is embarking on a serious reclaiming exercise to recover all degraded lands lost through the activities of illegal mining otherwise known as galamsey.
Despite several efforts by past and present governments, galamsey activities are still having devasting effects on lands and water resources across the country. The persistent activity has left many pits uncovered and turned several water bodies brownish.
Hon. Jinapor at reclaiming exercise in Asiwa in the Busome Freho District of the Ashanti region announced a national effort to address the dangers of unrecovered land. He stated that, ” the President is taking the view that we work to reclaim all these degraded mine sites with all the attendant consequences that we are familiar with. Pits and the landscape are totally being destroyed so essentially, what we are trying to do is to have this roll out of the massive reclamation exercise across the country and this is just one of them”.
Speaking to the media over the weekend at the event, the minister added that government will ensure all small-scale miners who degrade the land re-vegetate and reclaim those mined-out sites to avoid further degradation.
“Small scale miners excavate the land and leave behind the degraded mine sites and taxpayers have to cough out money to reclaim the land, therefore we will insist on the concurrent reclamation and re-vegetation. When you excavate, you reclaim and re-vegetate”, Mr. Jinapor proclaimed.
The government over the past months deployed over 200 military personnel under the Operation Halt Illegal Mining campaign to chase out galamseyers out of site.
Mr. Jinapor has indicated the country is not out of the hood yet hence the government’s relentless efforts to salvage the situation.
Citinewsroom
