The Chronicle, last Friday, published that the government, as part of its renewed fight against the illegal mining menace, had re-deployed Operation Halt II, made up of soldiers tasked with ridding the country’s water bodies off illegal miners.
According to the publication, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Samuel Abu Jinapor, said the Military High Command, which is in charge of Operation Halt II, has authority from the President to deal with all matters that would arise during its operations. He said the group had been charged to be blind to all manner of considerations that would arise from the political, business, traditional or religious spaces.
The Minister saw this directive as sufficient to empower the Military High Command to work in the interest of the nation, and not fail in the fight.
It must be noted that the previous deployments made in May last year suffered some challenges.
We are told by the Minister that the reason the government resolved to allow the military a free hand to operate this time is borne out of complaints it received from the military, alleging interference from politicians, businessmen and all classes of people, which consequently affected the fight.
We view the situation as very worrying, especially coming from the very people whose roles are key to building the nation. We wonder what motivates them to interfere with the work of the soldiers, who are only protecting our lands and water bodies from destruction.
Everyone acknowledges the devastating effects of illegal mining on the country. The amount of money the Ghana Water Company Limited, for instance, wastes to treat water is mind-boggling.
The Christian Council of Ghana recently toured the illegal mining sites on a fact-finding mission to observe at first-hand the level of devastation perpetrated by the galamsey operators, and to seek God’s intervention to end the menace. This speaks volumes of the colossal effects of galamsey in the country.
We are, therefore, encouraged by the decision of the government to re-deploy Operation Halt II. It is our hope that the Military High Command will continue to hold the country and their duty in high esteem.
As the Minister said, in order to ensure nothing impedes their operation, issues of funding and logistics have been addressed. They should not in any way compromise their work in the field.
It is necessary, however, to urge the Taskforce to use its mandate in the spirit of truth and fairness.
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, could not have said it any better when he indicated that the wrong people were being arrested at these galamsey sites.
We agree with him and others who have said that the real culprits are the financiers and not the poor labourers covered in mud who are often apprehended by the operation team. That must be looked at otherwise the fight will be a sham.
We are hopeful that, together, the fight can be won, but let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be genuine to the cause.
