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Reclaim Mining Sites For Farming — Council Of State Chairman

The Chairman of the Council of State, Nana Otuo Siriboe II, has suggested that illegal mining sites should be reclaimed and used for farming activities and afforestation, using the services of the same young people engaged in ‘galamsey’.
That, he explained, would serve as a good alternative livelihood for the young people who were currently displaced by the national fight against illegal mining.

The Western Region, he indicated, had a lot of hospitality facilities and residents who needed supply of vegetable and other agricultural produce, hence if the displaced people were trained and made to see new opportunities within the agricultural sector, it would serve a great purpose.

Nana Otuo Siriboe II made the suggestion in an interaction with the media in Takoradi last Friday after the Council had toured parts of the region.

Tour

The three-day working tour of the Western Region forms part of an initiative to get feedback from the grass roots which will help the Council appreciate the issues on the ground and inform their work as advisors of the President.

While in the Western Region, the members of the Council toured VRA plants at Aboadze, the construction site of GNPC operational headquarters, as well as some galamsey sites in the Ellembelle District.

They also held meetings with metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs).

In the opinion of the Chairman of the Council of State, fighting galamsey was not enough and stressed the need for urgent discussion on the sustainability of the fight against the menace months after government’s intervention which had deprived people engaged in the act of their livelihoods.

“After stopping their deleterious galamsey activities, how sustainable is the operation aimed at stopping