Fear galamsey than nuclear weapons – GMA Prez tells Ghanaians

The President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Frank Serebour, says steps should be taken immediately by all who matter to curb the devastating effects of illegal mining in Ghana.

For him, the menace should be feared more than the threats of nuclear weapons.

“The health implications as a result of the use of chemicals such as mercury and cyanide will affect generations to come,” he noted at ongoing 22nd West African Health Sector Unions Network (WAHSUN) Conference in Accra.

“Ghana has to be afraid of these illegal mining and not the threats of nuclear weapons,” he observed.

“We will be wiped out with our generations before the nuclear weapons even fall.”

He said Ghanaians should appreciate that the effects of galamsey on water bodies and lands are more threatening than the nuclear weapons they tend to be afraid of when they hear about their use in Russia, Ukraine and other countries.

“Very soon, we will have no water to drink and we will be fighting all forms of cancer and congenital malformations.

“It is time to stop the degradation of our environment and to stop as if we are the last generation of our time.”

There has been blame games between chiefs and politicians as to who condoning the menace.

While the chiefs, who are custodians of lands, are being blamed by the politicians, they also think the officials in political power have all the backings of law to stop galamsey.

Last Wednesday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo met the National House of Chiefs as well as metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs) on the way forward to stopping illegal mining.

“Eighty percent of the lands in this country continue to be under your custody, much of it having been acquired through the blood and sacrifices of your ancestors,” President AKufo-Addo addressed the chiefs.

“The remainder of 20 percent which I hold in trust of the people of Ghana, derived from state acquisition from you. What this means is that ultimately, the welfare of the state of the lands is our joint responsibility, although by statute the minerals in the soil belong to the president in trust for the people.”