National Coordinator of Echo Conscious Citizens, Awula Serwaa, has opined that the recently commissioned Blue Water Guards lack the needed skills in dealing with illegal mining or protecting our water bodies against illegal miners.
The environmental advocate believes the Ghana Armed Forces is best placed to deal with the canker.
She stated that even the military, with all its armoury, has faced serious challenges; hence, the Blue Water Guards initiative cannot deal with the situation.
For her, we can only make use of the water guards after the military has chased out the illegal miners from our waters and reserves.
Speaking in an interview on Frontline on Rainbow Radio 87.5FM, she said these water guards cannot fight illegal miners “because they are not well trained, and even if they are well trained, they will not be fully armed”.
She argued that even the military who are armed have been forced to retreat at some instances while dealing with armed illegal miners.
Awula Serwaa told host Kwabena Agyapong that “the only people who can repel the illegal miners who are highly armed are the armed forces. They are trained, they have the resources, and they can do it”.
She maintained that the Blue Water Guards could be made to patrol the illegal mining areas after the military had dealt with the illegal miners.
She admonished the government to treat the illegal miners as environmental terrorists who are destroying our environment, water bodies and forest reserves for their selfish interests.
“They (water guards) cannot be the ones to remove the illegal miners because they will not be highly armed, and you need a group of well-trained forces, which is what your army has been forced to do. Your army has been trained to fight a war, and at the moment, the illegal miners have declared war because when they go about destroying water bodies, it is a declaration of war.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
