News:
March 16, 2018
The Minister for Defence, Dominic Nitiwul has justified the recent action of the Military against some illegal sand winners in the Nawuni River in the Kumbungu constituency of the Northern region and sent a further strong warning to the offenders that government will not look on unconcerned to save the water body from further pollution.
According to the Minister who is MP for Bimbilla, the Ghana Water Company Limited had cautioned that if no action was taken to stop the pollution of the River, it would shut down its treatment plants because it spends six times more to treat the water because of its high turbidity level due to pollution.
“Mr Speaker, can you imagine what would have happened to the people of Tamale and the surrounding areas when the Ghana Water Company had stopped producing water to the Tamale Metropolis and the surrounding areas for three days” he queried.
The action by the Operation Vanguard wing of the Military to burn the trucks he said was necessitated since several attempts to arrest the illegal sand winners proved futile.
He stated that the team on four previous attempts to effect arrests could not be successful as the perpetrators bolted.
Mr Nitiwul stated that the Kumbungu incident was not the first time the military burnt down mining equipment saying that “the military is the last man standing and their work must not be politicised.”
“Mr Speaker, the action of the military which is not the first of its kind was to send a strong signal to the miners along River Nawuni after several warning to the miners to stop polluting the river,” the Minister said.
The Defence Minister’s utterances was prompted by a statement by Member of Parliament for Kumbungu, Ras Mubarak on the floor of Parliament demanding a probe into the burning of 14 tipper trucks, an excavator and dozens of motor bikes at Afia Yile by military personnel on March 3,2018.
The MP also called on parliament to ensure that compensation is given to the affected people.
The military contingent from the Operation Vanguard team burnt down the trucks and other equipment in the Dalun Electoral area in a bid to prevent sand winners from polluting the Nawuni River which is a source of drinking water to the Tamale metropolis and its adjourning communities.
But Ras Mubarak in his statement stated that the military were excessive in their approach in dealing with an illegality by perpetuating an illegality which contravene the laws of the land.
“The burning down of fourteen tipper trucks, an excavator and motorbikes is an egregious violation of the fundamental human rights of the tipper truck operators,” he said.
According to him sections of the Mining and Minerals Act which empowers the state to confiscate equipment used in, or associated with the commission of an illegal mining activity.
“Clearly Mr. Speaker, the laws of the land do not prescribe the burning down of trucks and other equipment, and the military, which I hold in high esteem, acted arbitrarily and that must not be accepted in this current dispensation.
“State actors, especially the military, cannot and must not be seen to be sidestepping the laws of the land. It sends a bad signal that we are still stuck in the stoneage,” Ras Mubarak stressed.
In his contribution to the statement, First Deputy Speaker of the House, Joseph Osei Owusu, advocate a more radical approach to curb the rate of illegal mining activities in the country.
The radical approaches which includes shooting to kill he said will scare potential illegalities miners.
However Second Deputy Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin disagreed on the use of force.
The Nadowli/Kaleo, MP said the application of force in the past to deter illegal miners has not yielded positive results and recommended a national dialogue whiles appealing to the conscience of illegal miners to find a workable solution to the menace.
The Speaker of Parliament, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye stated that the use of force by the military was permissible per provisions of article 13 of the 1992 Constitution.
According to him, the action taken by the military should serve as a warning to potential illegal miners to be law abiding citizens.
By Christian Kpesese/ ghanamps.com