The Centre for Public Opinion and Awareness (CenPOA), a non-partisan, non-governmental civil organisation founded to promote civil engagement and participation in public administration, has asked President Akufo-Addo to declare a state of emergency on illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
CenPOA believes galamsey is now an organised crime, and the best approach to dealing with it is for the President to declare a state of emergency.
A statement issued and signed by Executive Director Michael Donyinah Mensah lamented that the destruction of our water bodies and environment through galamsey over the past decade has reached alarming proportions, eliciting public outcry and condemnation from civil society organisations, the clergy, and other groups.
CenPOA noted that the country has lost a quarter of its vegetative cover since 2000, and this situation is expected to be worsened by uncontrolled mining activities, especially in forest reserves, amidst the growing effects of climate change. "Though the government is implementing afforestation initiatives and land reclamation programmes to address these imminent challenges, this is just a drop in the ocean and in no way a cure for the impending environmental doom." "CenPOA strongly believes that the recent spike in environmental destruction caused by mining activities directly results from government policy failure.