Editorial (The Daily Searchlight, May 25, 2022)
Hon. George Mireku Duker (MP) on Monday, May 23, 2022 together with Operation Halt II contingent led by Brigadier General Amoah Ayisi struck out illegal miners on and along the Tano River as part of a 3-day operation in the Western Region.Â
The swoop which was undertaken to clear illegal miners off the Tano River saw many arrests and decommissioning of Mining Equipment at Samreboi, Wassa Dunkwa through to Asankragua.
Addressing the Media at Wassa Dunkwa, Hon. Duker commended the military for the swift action and condemned the negative activities of the illegal miners.
He further indicated that, government will continue to fight against the menace which has become a burden on state coffers.
The Daily Searchlight continues to be intrigued by the total lack of patriotism and understanding of some Ghanaians when it comes to national assets.
River bodies are national assets, which provide the sole source of drinkable water for all Ghanaians. It is therefore clear, that their destruction would, short, medium and long term, make it impossible to live comfortably in our country.
Secondly, there are many ways in which we can use the rivers to gain economic benefits from them, without resorting to their destruction in the chase for illusive mineral resources such as gold.
Some of these economic benefits we can get from good rivers, is fish farming, and agriculture. Any simple investment that is made, would make a return in a matter of months, over and above illegal mining, but it seems impossible to convince many of our youth otherwise.
Even though government continues to expend great resources to prevent illegal mining and then to try to train our youth to adopt alternate lifestyles, the recidivist nature of many of our young people seem to militate against this.
We hope that the latest intervention by the Deputy Minister and the Military would go a long way towards curing these misfits and to educate them on a better way of earning a living.
