Former Deputy Editor at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Ben Dotsei Malor, has expressed deep concern over the destructive effects of illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, in Ghana.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, October 16, Dotsei Malor warned that the menace is causing irreparable harm to the country and its citizens.

“Galamsey is destroying us,” Malor lamented, sharing a troubling account of the situation in a town within the Central Region.

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“I saw a video where they’ve dug this big hole. This is the foolishness – the money they got from the gold, they’ve built brand-new houses near this huge pit where any child could fall in and die… and next to the main road, they are digging under it.”

He criticised the short-term thinking driving people to engage in illegal mining, warning that it jeopardises the future for momentary gain.

Calling for national unity on the issue, he urged Ghanaians to avoid politicising the fight against galamsey noting that it is a patriotic issue.

“Anybody who makes this a partisan issue needs to have their head examined,” he added.