The fight against illegal mining activities in the country could only see the light of the day where there is “bottom up approach” to fighting the menace, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Manso Adubia in the Ashanti Region, Hon. Yaw Frimpong Addo said.
“I have said it over and over that the solution to problem of galamsey is adopting bottom up approach and not the other way round as we are currently doing”
“I went round in my community and all the discussion I have with everybody there was to have the people themselves policing the situation and not the reverse”
The Manso Adubia constituency which is well noted for illegal mining activities in the Ashanti region is where recently the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu during a working visit uncovered Ukrainians and Russians prospecting despite a nationwide ban on illegal mining.
According to the MP, involvement of the local people will be an assurance to eradicate the menace if government meant to achieve best in protecting the country’s natural resources.
Meanwhile, constituents in the Manso Nkwanta, another mining district near Manso Adubia all in the region, have threatened to vote out their MP Hon. Joseph Albert Quarm in any polls for endorsing the decision of President Akufo-Addo to stop illegal mining in the country depriving them of their livelihood.
According to them, their MP and the 2016 flagebearer of NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo prior to the just ended polls promised to regularize their businesses when in government and not to throw them out and impoverish them .
“We are experiencing what we are not told. We know our businesses are going to boom but we are now jobless. We shall see 2020” some constituents told mynewsgh.com
Meanwhile, government has revealed that plans are underway to provide alternative but sustainable jobs to over five thousand jobless illegal miners across the country
Source: GhanaWeb
