The Executive Director of the Centre for Extractives and Development, Samuel Osei Bekoe, has revealed that over three million people are engaged in illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey, making it a much larger issue than previously estimated.
Speaking on the Joy News AM Show on Tuesday, February 25, he highlighted the scale of the problem, stating, “Over three million people are actively working in illegal mining, going into the forests or galamsey areas every day.”
According to him, these figures far exceed previous estimates, underscoring the severity of the situation.
Bekoe also pointed out the difficulty in persuading young people to abandon illegal mining, particularly when alternative livelihoods do not offer comparable financial benefits.
“If these alternative livelihoods don’t provide the same income as illegal mining, it will be hard to convince the youth to stop,” he explained.
He further expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of current alternative livelihood programmes.
“Personally, I don’t think these programmes will work as we hope,” he said. “They may have some success, but it could be as low as 10 to 15%. We might not reach the level of success needed to fully redirect the youth away from illegal mining.”
Bekoe concluded by stressing the need for more effective solutions to address the crisis, stating, “With so many people involved in galamsey, it’s unlikely these alternatives will work as well as we hope. We must find more comprehensive measures to tackle this issue.”
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