In one of our front-page stories in this week’s edition, we report of the recent sanctioning of some soldiers, who were involved in illegal operations at a ‘galamsey’ site at Wassa Atieku in the Western Region. The soldiers were part of Operation Vanguard, the joint military-police taskforce tackling illegal mining (galamsey) in the country.
We commend the Ghana Armed Forces for promptly dealing with the Soldier culprits. It is sad that Officers who are supposed to protect the environment were rather engaged in illegal operations.
It has been reported that one thousand, one hundred and fifty-five (1,155) illegal miners have been arrested by the Operation Vanguard taskforce since the unit commenced operation last year to clamp down on illegal mining across the country.
In a related development, four Nigerians were also arrested by Officers of the Forestry Commission in the Eastern Region for attempting to illegally mine gold in the Atiwa Forest Reserve in the Eastern Region.
We are glad that the government, through the Military and Police, is fighting against illegal mining that is causing pollution to our water bodies, destroying our farmlands and forests, and threatening the very survival of this country.
Despite the greedy and selfish interests of some of the security officers, this Paper is optimistic that the Security Services have risen to the occasion by weeding out the miscreants among them and ensuring that the war against galamsey is won.
We encourage the Government, the Media, Civil Society and Faith-based Organisations to persevere in their resolve to fight illegal mining that has plagued our nation for many years.
We would also like to draw the attention of the Government to another vexing issue; that is the indiscriminate felling of trees particularly the Rose Wood in the northern part of the country. The practice is seriously getting out of control. Immediate steps have to be taken to arrest the fast desertification of that part of the country.
The Chiefs and people of the affected areas have a role to play. They have to realise that the ‘peanuts’ they are getting now from the business people will cost them more in the future if they condone with those destroying the vegetation. They have to look toward the long term and the common good.
The Catholic Standard reminds Ghanaians that the country’s natural resources belong to all including the unborn, hence the need to refrain from greedy and selfish exploitation of the natural resources such as gold and timber.
In his Encyclical, Laudato Si- On the Care of the Earth, Pope Francis invites us to reflect deeply on all points of human activity, whether we consider care for creation at the level of our individual choices or in the public square. The need for urgent action is clear and he appeals to us to become “painfully aware” of what is happening to the world and “to grow in solidarity, responsibility and compassionate care.”
We have to take cognisance of the fact that we are given the earth as a gift from our Creator. It is therefore our responsibility to avoid contributing to a culture of destruction and selfishness, otherwise our human environment and the natural environment will deteriorate together to our very peril.
