The Deputy Majority Leader of Parliament, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has charged his colleague politicians to come together to confront the galamsey menace.
Speaking at a ceremony to commission a school block he has constructed for the people of Sankor in the Effutu Municipality, the Effutu legislator emphasized the need for illegal mining activities to be tackled head-on with a united front.
“People are dying of cancer, people are dying without knowing why they’re dying. The water we drink, you think it is safe for you?” he asked.
He urged politicians from all the parties to come together to deal decisively with galamsey.
“Let us confront galamsey, let us confront the challenges that face our nation. I call on my colleague politicians, CPP, NDC, NPP, let’s come together, build a consensus on the key national issues that will benefit our people in the long term” he stressed.
This he observed, is what the Europeans and Americans have done to build their countries into enviable ones.
He shared his experience as a former board chairman of Ghana Water and how much it cost them to treat contaminated water for human consumption.
“President Akufo-Addo made me Chairman of Ghana Water, I know how much it costs to treat water, and because we the politicians have made everything partisan, we are looking at the next elections, we are unable to boldly confront the challenges that face our nation, so galamsey is destroying us” he said.
“If we continue with this type of parochial politics, our country will go nowhere” he stated.
The fight against galamsey has become a topical subject due to recent news reports about how the phenomenon has been destroying water bodies, forest zones and affecting cocoa farms, prompting the need for the fight to be intensified.
—
By: PK Sarpong
