Madam Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to apprise this august House of the galamsey tragedy that struck Dompoase in my constituency last week Tuesday. I am back from home after empathizing with the grief-stricken families. It was pitiful and woeful. I take this opportunity to extend further sympathies to the bereaved families and to wish the sole survivor a speedy recovery.
Galamsey accidents do occur on a
regular basis across the country, often unreported; but never has a calamitous event of such proportion and involving so many women casualties happened in the history of this country. In all, they were sixteen able-bodied persons; fifteen of them perished out of asphyxiation when the mine pit caved in. Thirteen of the dead were women and the only survivor is also a woman. The women go to carry gold-bearing limestone as livelihood but for a pittance.
Madam Speaker, almost all the
deceased women were single parents with two to five children and have very poor backgrounds. Two of the women sadly were breastfeeding. The duo, I was told, always carried their babies strapped at their backs as they plied their trade. Either by the women's own premonition or some twist of fate, they decided for once to leave the tender kids in the care of others outside the pit. So on that black Tuesday, the two kids miraculously survived but their breastfeeding mothers perished. The two kids have a great story to tell one day when they grow up.
Madam Speaker, the galamsey operation that has dispatched the fifteen previous lives to eternity is illegal. It is a form of small-scale mining that takes place without official approval or licence. It occurs often as an encroachment on the mining concessions of multi-national companies. The term galamsey is the corrupt version of the phrase, “gather and sell”, and it does not matter where the precious mineral must be gathered and sold. It is carried out openly and often gets into confrontation with the law enforcement agencies.
Not only is it outlawed but it is also the most hazardous way of making a living. Yet, it has one of the largest following in the country in terms of work force and ancillary activities. In my constituency
alone, they were estimated to be twenty thousand. They are in their numbers at Tarkwa/Nsuaem, Telekubukazo in Nzema, Mpohor, Sefwi Juaboso, Bibiani, Obuasi, Konongo, Wa, Bole - Indeed, wherever gold is known to exist, galamsey activity is also present. Shakespeare says “gold is the worst poison to men's souls', yet men desire it and will hazard to have it.
Madam Speaker, the galamsey matter is not a local matter. It borders on the law, its effect on the environment, the prodigies that are entailed, the category of our people involved and the fact that most of them are migrants from the North make it a national issue.
Frankly, as a nation, our policies for job creation have not clicked. Many who find themselves into this deadly venture do so out of desperation for job. Ironically, the operation benefits few. The ‘buyers' or masters of the business, who pay neither tax nor royalties, are the ones who profit. The great majority - the stone diggers, crashers, grinders, washers and carriers, who perform the menial manual jobs, the dirty and risky tasks, take home very little. I have had cause to campaign against the use of children in galamsey activity.
Eight, nine, ten, eleven, up to sixteen years old - children in their formative period - who must be in school or under some apprenticeship for skills and trade, are rather recruited into galamsey activity. When I complained, I paid dearly for it in all the galamsey towns during the last general elections. Nevertheless, a lot of abuse and exploitation take place at the galamsey sites but because the operation itself is illegal, the Labour Commission, the national labour organization (TUC) and allied Ministries have turned a blind eye in that direction.
Madam Speaker, all forms of land
