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“I’ll Never Endorse Illegal Mining”—Effiduase Asokore MP
The Member of Parliament for Effiduase- Asokore, Dr Nana Ayew Afriye has denied endorsing illegal mining in any form in the country.
Rather, he asserts that persons engaged in illegal mining should be stopped.
Speaking to this reporter Tuesday morning, Dr Afriye stated that private individuals as well as firms carryiny out responsible small scale mining should be allowed to operate.
“There is no way i will endorse any illegality but just as we have persons doing responsible mining we should not lump them together for blame”, the MP stressed.
Doctoring:
The MP said it was unfortunate that while he took time to extensively explain why the ban on illegal mining should not be extended to those doing responsible mining, Tv3 decided to quote him out of context.
He noted that anyone who carefully watched his address on Joy News and other media houses who played the full video, one would realise that unlike them, TV3 pieced-up his thoughts in a mischievous manner to achieve a devilish impression”, Dr Afriye noted.
The Effiduase Asokore MP intimated that by his training and profession he knows the dangers of mining in water bodies.
He added that rather than antagonising responsible miners, he would rather that all attempts are geared towards stopping all illegal forms of mining especially those carried out in water bodies and forest reserves.
Responsibility:
Dr Afriye explained that while there are bad practices in every human endeavour, measures are taken to stop illegal acts in any form.
He noted that in fishing areas, many dabble in wrong acts of fishing and end up in killing some of the fishes by the items they use.
However, Dr Afriye said the Fisheries Ministry and stakeholders have constantly looked out to halt these illegal activities so that they could preserve fishes in the Ghanaian waters and sea.
“We should be able to take responsibility in every area of the economy including mining so that we put a stop to those perpetrating illegality and encourage those doing responsible activities to continue”, Dr Afriye asserted.
By:Michael Ofosu Afriyie,Kumasi