Former Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor has warned that the country’s land, forest reserves and water bodies remain under sustained attack from illegal mining (galamsey) activities, despite ongoing efforts to curb the menace.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews, Mr Jinapor said the continued destruction of the environment points to deep-seated challenges in the fight against galamsey, stressing that the impact on rivers and protected forest areas remains visible and alarming.

"It is one year gone; if you ask me a pointed question about whether the fight against illegal small-scale mining has been better, I will say a big no," he said.

According to him, the persistence of illegal mining operations suggests that existing measures have not been sufficiently effective in halting the activities of perpetrators.

"I think there are certain concerns out there that the fight is not as successful as it should be, and the evidence is clear. Menace is still out there, the forest reserves of our country are still under attack, the river bodies of our country are not better, and clearly, there is a lot more that has to be done," he said.

On the issue of the declaration of a state of emergency, he said, "The whole issue is consistency in terms of declaring the state of emergency and all that; these are matters that have come up."

Meanwhile, President John Mahama recently said that the fight against the menace is beginning to show encouraging results, with some previously polluted water bodies gradually clearing up.

Read also: Mahama says anti-galamsey fight yielding results as polluted rivers shift from “coffee to light milo”