Researcher, priest, and Jema community mobiliser, Rev Fr Joseph Kwame Blay, has strongly condemned illegal mining activities, known as galamsey, stating that they are driven by selfish interests rather than the national or communal good.
Speaking on the Point of View (PoV) on Channel One TV, Rev Fr Blay highlighted the detrimental impact of galamsey on communities and the environment.
He emphasised that galamsey is not comparable to building the Akosombo Dam, which served the entire country's interest.
This statement comes in the wake of resistance from Jema, Rev Fr Blay's local community in the Western North region, where residents have steadfastly rejected all attempts to exploit their land for mining purposes.
Rev Fr Blay told host Bernard Avle, "The irony of it is that you say you are bringing work to the youth and the youth say we have work.
Our work is cocoa and even this work that you are bringing is somebody's selfish work." He further explained, "Galamsey or mining is not like building the Akosombo Dam.
When Kwame Nkrumah was building the Akosombo Dam, it was something of national interest going to serve the whole nation. "So even if the communities there are against it, the government has the power to take that land by force because there is a greater need.
But here, all those who are mining are just individual selfish needs.
The one producing cocoa is helping the economy."