{"id":332274,"date":"2024-09-10T05:43:14","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T05:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/?p=332274"},"modified":"2024-09-10T05:43:15","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T05:43:15","slug":"utag-threatens-nationwide-demo-if-illegal-mining-is-not-totally-banned-by-september-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/general-news\/utag-threatens-nationwide-demo-if-illegal-mining-is-not-totally-banned-by-september-30\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"UTAG threatens nationwide demo if illegal mining is not totally banned by September 30"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Story By: Jeremiah Nutsugah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has joined the growing chorus of voices calling for a ban on illegal small-scale mining, commonly known as galamsey, in forest reserves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The devastating impact of these activities on Ghana’s water bodies, forests, and agricultural lands has sparked widespread concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a press release, UTAG’s National President, Prof. Mamudu A. Akudugu, acknowledged that the government’s efforts to combat galamsey have been criticized as “failed and corruption-infested militarized battles.” Given the alarming state of illegal mining in the country, UTAG finds it hard to refute these critiques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement highlighted the severe consequences of galamsey, which includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghana may be forced to import potable water within six years due to the destruction of water bodies, Cocoa productivity has declined by 45% this year, Illegal mining costs the economy $2.3 billion annually, The permanent destruction of over 2.5 million hectares of forest cover, A 35% increase in respiratory diseases in mining areas, linked to high levels of particulate matter and toxic chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTAG has taken a firm stance against galamsey, calling for an immediate ban on all forms of small-scale mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Association criticized government-led initiatives like Operation Vanguard and Operation Flashout as “monumental failures” that have only served to economically empower the political class, chieftaincy leaders, and the elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement urged the Ghanaian public to support a complete ban on mining in forest reserves, farmlands, and water bodies. UTAG threatened to embark on a nationwide industrial action by the end of September 2024 if their demands are not met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have taken this principled stand against galamsey because our lives depend on it. We shall not waive our demand for the complete and total ban of galamsey.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is a full copy of the Press Statement by UTAG:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Story By: Jeremiah Nutsugah The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has joined the growing chorus of voices calling for a ban on illegal small-scale mining, commonly known as galamsey, in forest reserves. The devastating impact of these activities on Ghana’s water bodies, forests, and agricultural lands has sparked widespread concern. In a press release, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":222382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[114,25],"tags":[3355,8634,1998,13379],"class_list":["post-332274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","category-news","tag-ghana","tag-illegal-mining","tag-utag","tag-west-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/UTAG.jpg?fit=512%2C315&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332274"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":332276,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332274\/revisions\/332276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gbcghanaonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}