Wednesday, 15th September, 2021b

Page 8
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 15th September, 2021
Environmental & Mining Matters
We sacked galamseyers
away from water bodies
—Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai MCE
Story: Freeman
Koryekpor Awlesu
Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai
Municipal Assembly
in the North Western
Region has launched
a community surveillance
operation to clear all illegal
small-scale miners out of the restricted
water bodies, forest range
reserves and farmlands in the
area, the Municipal Chief Executive
for the Assembly, Mr Alfred
Amoah, has stated.
According to him, dozens of
military-police joint taskforce
members together with the
Assembly task force have been
deployed to lake, rivers and waterways
in the municipality to
"remove all persons and logistics
involved in mining.
Speaking in an interview with
DAILY Analyst on Monday, September
12, 2021, Mr Amoah stated
that they gave approval to what
has become the largest joint military-police
action against illegal
miners in his area.
He stated that on top of the
agenda was the issue of illegal
small-scale mining activities in
the area and that his assembly
task force and military personnel
were on the grounds to flush out
the miners from restricted water
bodies and forest range reserves.
According to him, this was
so because the municipality was
highly endowed with natural
resources thus making it a prime
target for the nefarious activities
of illegal small scale miners.
Mincing no words, the MCE
directed all persons involved in
the activities of illegal small scale
mining to leave all restricted
water bodies and forest range reserves
or else will incur the wrath
of the law.
"I want to stress that all the
small scale miners in Bibiani
Anhwiaso Bekwai municipality
should put their tools down and
adhere to the government's directives
because we are working hard
upon the directives of President
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to
ensure that all illegal small scale
miners were flushed out from
various mining sites," the MCE
warned.
Although their personnel were
on the ground to help flush out
miscreants from the restricted
mining zones, he said, they were
informed that some of the small
scale miners were still working at
various mining sites, so now their
focus has shifted to the municipal.
He further urged all the
residents in the municipality to
inform the security to assist in
the arrest of illegal miners.
He pointed out that although
he intensified education on the
adverse effects of illegal and
irresponsible small scale mining
activities have on water bodies
and forest range reserves and environment
at large in the area, the
recalcitrant miners still remained
About 289,000 jobs created
so far by 106 1D1F firms
Data from the Ministry
of Trade and Industry
has shown that 106
factories have been
created under the 1
District 1 Factory (1D1F) government
policy since its inception in
2017
Ṫhe data also revealed that
about 289,000 jobs had been created
by the factories, of which about
150,000 are direct jobs created
so far, and 139,000 indirect jobs
created.
Meanwhile, the total number
of 1D1F projects that have passed
through the ministry and are at
different stages of completion is
275.
The Deputy Minister of Trade
and Industry, Herbert Krapa,
speaking to the data, said 60 per
cent of the factories were new,
starting from scratch, while 40 per
cent were already existing factories
that needed some revitalization
or expansion.
He said aside from job
creation, the 1D1F is a strategic
initiative to boost the nation’s industrialization
drive, which would
go a long way to bolster GDP.
Hence, the proposals of the
factories go through a very thorough
certification process with
state agencies like the Food and
Drugs Authority and the Ghana
Standards Authority to ensure
that their activities would match
up to global standards, as the
nation wants to take advantage of
the available export markets.
“We are trying to build them
for the export market; they would
not pass the export market if we
do not ensure that the standards
are at the right level.
We also do not want them to
– Trade Ministry
get complacent; that is why from
the onset, the ministry and its
consultants are ensuring that
whatever you are producing is
meeting the right certification
and standards for the domestic
and export market,” Mr Krapa told
Accra-based station Asaase radio.
The initiative seeks to change
the structure of the nation’s economy
from one which is dependent
on import and export of raw
material to one which is focused
on manufacturing, value addition
and export of processed goods by
processing raw materials found
largely in the 275 districts of the
country into finished or semi-finished
goods.
The deputy minister also
noted that when all factories are
completed, over 280,000 direct
jobs will be created in total.
The deputy minister added
that the government is also in the
process of developing industrial
parks strategically across the
country to woo investors.
“The lands are strategically
located across the country and
have been cited in areas that have
unique resources. These parks
would also have reliable amenities
to support their operations,” he
said
Ḣe disclosed that in Tamale,
the government earmarked 63
acres of undeveloped land for
an Industrial Park; In Greater
Kumasi, 5,000 acres of land have
been secured, of which part is
currently being developed under
a Public-Private Partnership
agreement.
Again, in Sekondi, he said,
2,035 acres of land have been
secured; Appolonia City in Greater
Accra has 2,385 acres of land that
is being spearheaded by the private
sector, but the government is
helping with the location of some
factories on the land.
Herbert Krapa,
Deputy Minister of Trade
doing their illegal activities in
their sites.
He said he was working closely
with the Western North Regional
Minister and the Western North
Regional Security Council to sanitise
and regularise the small scale
mining industry.
He reiterated that plans were
under ways to organise the illegal
miners to educate them on the
adverse effects their illegal mining
activities were having on the environment.
He pointed out that the operations
of small scale miners in
water bodies, forest range reserves
About 30,000 household
toilet facilities are expected
to be provided
for people in low-income
communities in
the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan
Area (GKMA).
Additionally, a total of 5,000
households will be supported to
connect potable water into their
homes, under the Greater Kumasi
Sanitation and Water Project.
This is to help ensure increased
access to improved toilet
and water facilities to the majority
of poor and vulnerable people in
urban and peri-urban communities
Ṁadam Cecilia Abenaa Dapaah,
Minister for Sanitation and Water
Resources, said this at a day’s orientation
workshop on the Greater
Kumasi Sanitation and Water
Project for some media personnel
in Kumasi.
The workshop was aimed at
introducing the project which was
launched in November last year to
the media in the Ashanti region.
The project, according to the
Minister, has four components
which were mainly to increase
access to sanitation services to
people in low-income and deprived
areas.
It would also help to support
the expansion of the water
distribution networks in GKMA
to provide water for an estimated
150,000 people.
Again it would strengthen
institutions and provide technical
assistance to stakeholders in the
water and sanitation sector.
and farmlands including other restricted
places within the municipality
had declined compared to
the previous years due to security
measures being adopted to control
activities of illegal miners in the
area.
He maintained that "miners
are not into the restricted water
bodies, farmlands and forest range
reserves again but when we overhear
where they are doing their
illegal activities we go there to
flush them out.
Writer's email: koryekporfreeman@yahoo.com
30,000 households in greater
Kumasi to benefit from
modern toilet facilities
The project beneficiaries are
the eight Metropolitan and Municipal
assemblies in the GKMA,
which include the Kumasi Metropolitan
Assembly (KMA), Asokwa,
Oforikrom, old Tafo, Suame, Kwadaso,
and the Asokore Mampong
Municipal Assemblies.
Madam Dapaah said the facilities
would be maintained and
expanded as the population in
those areas increased.
The Minister pointed out that
the water supply in Kumasi was
not good, saying the Owabi headworks
in the Atwima Nwabiaqya
District would soon be dredged.
The government she said was
providing pragmatic measures
to find a lasting solution to the
water and sanitation problems in
Kumasi.
Madam Dapaah called on the
media to take an active part in
making sure that the agenda of
making the country clean was
achieved,
Mr George Asiedu, the Project
Coordinator, said a steering committee
had been established to
ensure the sustainability of the
project to provide a safe sewage
system.
Mr Kwadwo Gyasi, Engineer
for the project, pledged to work
to provide sustainable clean, and
hygienic toilet facilities for the
people.
He said it was Bio-digester
technology that degrades faecal
matter into smaller particles,
Mr Gyasi called on the media
to educate the public on improved
water and sanitation practices.