The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has attributed the surge in illegal mining, also known as galamsey, to greed, the lure of quick money, and the public’s growing appetite for easy wealth.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey on Tuesday, October 7, Programme Manager for Security Sector Governance at CDD-Ghana, Paul Nana Kwabena Aborampah Mensah, said government interventions have failed due to that.
According to him, interventions such as tree planting and cash support schemes have largely failed because many people see galamsey as more profitable and less demanding than legitimate work.
“Various governments are putting in place so many mechanisms to ensure that people do not go there. They itemise planting for trees at galamsey to recover lands that have been destroyed by galamsey, people did not enter into it.
They gave free seedlings and covering of some aspects, including money for people to go into farming. People do not accept it. So, the lucrative nature and quick fix money from galamsey makes it imperative for people to enter there.”
He explained that while alternative livelihoods like cocoa farming or reforestation require patience and hard labour, illegal mining offers faster financial returns, attracting both youth and women who are unwilling to engage in long-term ventures.
“The galamsey payment is higher than any other vocation they have in their constituencies, in their districts. galamsey is easier to be done by all categories of people than the hard work that we do.
For example, the number of youths you have in the galamsey are not enthused to work in cocoa farm. They are not enthused to work in other minor, minor agencies, so, it’s easy, accessible categories of people to be done. The hard work aspect that women would not do, galamsey have an aspect that makes it easy for women to enter,” he said.
Mr. Mensah emphasized that any new livelihood intervention must first assess the economic realities of mining communities and be designed to compete financially with the illegal mining trade.
“So, if you are devising any alternative livelihood, it must be a system or a vocation – One, that everybody feels comfortable to enter both categories. (8:46) And two, it’s more lucrative than galamsey, otherwise, it’s just like you are giving money for retrieval of guns.”
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
