The Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL) has expressed concern over the government’s lack of commitment to addressing illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
Kenneth Koomson, Deputy General Secretary of the GFL, in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show on Accra-based Citi FM on Monday, September 30, stated that the government’s attitude and actions suggest it is not serious about tackling the issue.
He cited the silence of President Akufo-Addo and his appointees on the matter as a key factor behind Organised Labour’s decision to demonstrate.
Koomson explained that the Ghana Federation of Labour, along with other unions and sister associations, have no choice but to protest, as they had previously warned on September 17, following the government’s inaction on the galamsey menace.
“We have no other choice than to take an industrial action. The constitution is clear on circumstances for which the president is required to declare a state of emergency and you and I are aware of the pollution of our waterbodies and the destruction of our forest reserves, but we have not seen any action by the government,” Mr. Koomson told the host, Bernard Avle.
He added that members of the federation were assured that processes were underway to work on all the demands that had been received.
“Personally, I think the conduct, behaviour, and action of the government, doesn’t give any form of indication that the government is committed to stopping the menace.
“On September 17, when we met with the inter-ministerial committee, the government admitted unequivocally that the issue had gone out of hand and that the demands that we made as an Organised Labour, government was going to look at it. What they also assured us was that they were unable to take immediate action because other CSOs had some demands and they needed to meet all of them.”
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