We would rather preserve our farmlands than encourage mining – NPP’s Owusu Sekyere

Ahafo Regional Chairperson of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwabena Owusu Sekyere says the region is more interested in saving their arable farmlands than giving way to mining activities.

According to him, stakeholders in the region will vehemently oppose even legal mining activities if the end results will be the destruction of their farmlands.

Addressing issues of illegal mining in the region, the politician shared, “Immediately I heard of the situation in the region, I quickly informed the r
Regional Minister and now we are on high alert to curb the menace”.

Kwabena Owusu Sekyere furthered, “I told the Regional Minister that if miners have the documents to mine and we believe their activities will destroy our farmlands, then we would take a critical look at their activities”.

On his authority, the Ahafo Regional Minister has taken a strong stance against mining activities that will destroy farmlands.

Speaking in an interview on Happy 98.9FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political talk show hosted by Don Kwabena Prah, Owusu Sekyere said, “We produce a lot of food to serve the nation and if mining activities will affect our food production, then we should be careful”.

Notwithstanding the fact that the mining sector contributes to government revenue it also has negative impact on the environment and to miners.

The illegal mining sector in Ghana is plagued by several environmental and health problems. Several accidents have occurred and in some cases this has led to fatalities in the mines.

Another serious impact is the health hazards as a result of pollution from gases, noise, dust and polluted water.

The Akufo-Addo led administration realising the serious effects of the menace banned illegal mining but later gave way to regulated, responsible and sustainable mining under the Community Mining Programme (CMP).