)
)
According to him, only persons with huge monies can afford the sophisticated equipment used for illegal mining, locally known as galamsey.
In a Facebook post, the legislator called for attention to be shifted to arresting the big men and women behind the practice.
)
MP for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
“It strikes me as really strange that in this entire galamsey fight we have not had one galamsey overlord, one real architect, an actual financier arrested and prosecuted. Isn’t that where the fight should have started from?” he wrote.
)
)
)
“We all know from the kind of sophisticated equipment at play that only a few moneybags can initiate a galamsey operation.
“Instead of hurriedly burning excavators, shouldn’t we pay attention to their unique chassis numbers and readily available technology to track the real McCoys who imported or purchased them? It’s definitely not difficult to follow the ownership trail.”
The government of Ghana has renewed its efforts to clamp down on illegal mining, with the military directed to destroy all excavators on site.
Some days ago, the taskforce against illegal mining activities set ablaze 15 excavators in the Central Region.
Last Sunday, eight more excavators, a dozer, and dozens of water pumping machines were burned at the mining site at Akyem Akropong in Atewa West District.
Mr. Ablakwa believes rather than just destroying the excavators, efforts must be made to track and arrest those who own them.
“Is it not time to put out a handsome amount of money as reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest of the “big men/women” behind the destructively criminal galamsey gang?
“Remember those cloaked with authority over intelligence gathering say they do not know the real henchmen.
“Also, in exchange for their freedom, shouldn’t we get the small flies we arrest at the galamsey pits lead us to their real bosses? How many of them wouldn’t find this offer irresistible?” he added.