The Convener of the Anti-Galamsey Coalition, Ken Ashigbey, has raised concerns over the effectiveness and urgency of the newly launched Blue Water Initiative, questioning whether deploying Blue Water Guards should be a priority at this time.
Speaking on Point Blank on Citi FM on Monday, March 17, he argued that while the initiative is commendable, the immediate focus should be on reclaiming water bodies and restoring degraded forest reserves before deploying personnel to monitor them.
He further expressed doubt about the ability of the guards to tackle and deliver accurately on the role assigned to them, claiming that they have not undergone any proper training to handle such menace.
“To me, this is nice to have, but is it the thing we need to do immediately? I would say no. We have done this water guard thing in the past. The difference is that of the 2,000 they are going to deploy, 460 have been deployed now.
“What training has been given to these people? How long have these people been trained? It is something that you do after you have reclaimed these water bodies,” he stated.
His comments follow the launch of the Blue Water Initiative by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah on Monday, March 17. The initiative seeks to restore polluted water bodies and includes the deployment of 460 Blue Water Guards for round-the-clock monitoring, with plans to increase the number to 2,000 nationwide.
However, Ashigbey insists that without first addressing the root causes of environmental destruction, such an initiative may not yield the desired results.
