According to a story published on graphiconline, reports from the Western Region reveal that mature rubber plantations cultivated with years of investment and patience are being destroyed overnight. Trees nurtured from nursery to maturity, ready for tapping and yield significant economic returns for the nation, are being chopped down to make way for galamsey pits. The story further added that in some areas, more than 6,000 hectares of rubber plantations with over 2,000 trees have already been destroyed. For a sector that contributes massively to Ghana’s export earnings, this is nothing short of economic sabotage.
The Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL), which anchors the country’s rubber industry, has been crippled in its operations. Officials lament declining yields, uprooted trees and the premature death of plantations due to dangerous chemicals used by the miners. To make matters worse, the felled rubber trees are sometimes used by these illegal operators to build makeshift mining camps. This is how reckless we are treating one of our most vital non-traditional export commodities.
Rubber is not just another crop. It is a global commodity that places Ghana among the world’s competitive producers. In 2022 alone, rubber exports generated $131.3 million in revenue and in 2023 the figure rose to $187 million. These are not mere numbers; they represent jobs, livelihoods, foreign exchange earnings and contributions to our GDP. How can we sit idly by while such a critical industry is being dismantled tree by tree, pit by pit?
We are at a crossroads in the fight against illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey. For years, the menace has polluted our rivers, poisoned our lands and devastated our forests. Now, as if that is not enough, illegal miners have turned their destructive attention to one of our most valuable agricultural assets, our rubber plantations. This is beyond alarming. It is a national crisis.
We must begin to confront the truth. Our fight against galamsey is failing. Successive governments have pledged to end it, yet the illegal miners continue to expand their reach. They have polluted our rivers to the point where treatment plants struggle to produce potable water. They have degraded arable lands that should be feeding the nation. Now, they are tearing down entire plantations that took decades of investment to establish. This is not just an environmental disaster; it is an economic and social one.
Government must wake up from its slumber. How long can we tolerate these brazen acts of destruction? How can galamsey operators penetrate plantations owned by GREL and outgrowers, without swift intervention from security agencies and the state?The Western Regional Coordinating Council has described the development as worrying and urgent, but words are not enough. We need decisive and sustained action from government’s relevant agencies.
Illegal mining cannot coexist with national development. Every rubber tree cut down for galamsey is revenue lost, jobs destroyed and the future of countless households jeopardised. Every water body poisoned is a blow to public health and food security. Every acre of land degraded is a scar on our children’s inheritance.
The time has come for a renewed and uncompromising commitment to ending this scourge. Government must marshal all resources legal, security, and community to protect our natural resources from destruction. The Ghanaian public must also rise up and demand accountability. We cannot afford to be silent spectators while our rivers are poisoned and our plantations are razed to the ground.
Enough is enough. Galamsey is not just destroying our environment, it is dismantling our economy. If we do not act now, Ghana may soon find itself counting the cost of a reckless indulgence we failed to confront.
