Forensic Pathologist, Prof Paul Poku Sampene Ossei, has backed the call on the government by health workers associations including the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) to ban all forms of small-scale mining activities.
According to him, recent research findings by his team have revealed that the environmental damage caused by illegal mining has moved from “bad to worse.”
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on September 10, he said, “There should be a sustainable effort that we have to persist and let the government know that what is happening is not the best of things and we are dealing with general extinction.”
Citing Venezuela as an example, he explained that a temporary ban on gold mining had to be imposed due to severe environmental degradation.
“When I engage some of these miners, both legal and illegal ones, their argument is that the place where they have a concession is not enough to recoup what they would have actually invested in. So they move from one place to another in an attempt to search for more. So they go to any length to do what they want.”
The forensic pathologist also highlighted troubling practices among miners, both legal and illegal, who are increasingly operating in sensitive areas like river beds.
“When we deal with the various things that I have come out with recently, you will realise it is quite alarming. I believe that whatever we have to do to curb the menace must be done. I am so much in support of the stance of the GMA. In fact, put a halt and revisit the whole thing and then come out with a very strong way by which we can control this menace.”
Meanwhile, the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has also joined calls for a ban on illegal small-scale mining in forest reserves.
These activities have severely damaged Ghana’s water bodies, forests, and agricultural lands. Many scholars have criticised the government’s efforts to combat galamsey describing them as “failed and corruption-infested militarized battles.”
In a press release by its National President, Prof. Mamudu A. Akudugu, UTAG acknowledged that, given the current alarming state of illegal mining in the country, these criticisms are hard to refute.
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