Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng has issued a stern warning to Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) not to  take directives from President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to fight galamsey for granted.

He said the president is serious about the fight against illegal mining popularly known as galamsey.

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Speaking during the inauguration of Municipal and District Committees against  illegal Mining for nine (9) mining  Districts in the Eastern region, he said the region has developed uncooperative attitude towards the fight against illegal mining hence the need for the committee to work to ensure that the menace is eliminated.

He said "We are here to inaugurate district committees against illegal mining activities, DCE is the head. You are supposed to make sure that mining activities are done correctly and so it is going to be part of the key performance indicators  of DCEs. If the President himself has put his job on the line to stop it, who are you, who am I as a minister to joke with it, it is a very serious matter and let us take it as a survival issue, it is our survival, this is very serious, if you joke with it, the President will kill you, I'm telling you."

"I am sad because Eastern region appears to be probably the most difficult region  as far as galamsey is concerned and this is the  region of our President, the home of Okyenhene Amoatia Ofori Pannin, so what is happening," he added.

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Ghana’s future is in a limbo with a huge chunk of its environment under-siege from boisterous young men and women who are digging every inch of space in mineral rich areas of Ghana in search of gold, diamond etc.

They have polluted many rivers, cut down many trees, destroyed many farms all in search of gold.

These miners are mostly funded by influential kingpins. Their activities are threatening the very survival of the country, leaving the government no choice but to declare war on galamsey.

In furtherance of this war, some miners have been arrested, excavators have been seized all in a desperate move to end the canker.

READ ALSO: 13 illegal miners jailed for 39 years

Prof. Frimpong Boateng speaking on the development however, bemoaned how water bodies are being polluted despite its importance to human survival.

"The forest is dwindling, we’ve lost close to 80% of the virgin forests that we had in Ghana. We have degraded the land and we know that about 10% of surface area in Ghana is degraded, that is about 23,000 Square Kilometers. And to out this right, we did the calculation, we need about $650 billion to reclaim the degraded lands in Ghana, where are we going to get the money from," he noted.