Former Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, George Mireku Duker, has criticized the Mahama-led administration for neglecting to deploy around 600 personnel trained during his tenure to protect the country’s water bodies from illegal mining activities.
Speaking on Adom FM’s Burning Issues, the former MP for Tarkwa-Nsuaem revealed that the personnel had completed their training and were ready for deployment before the government changed hands. However, he noted that they were sidelined following the NPP’s exit from power.
Mr. Duker expressed disappointment that the current government opted to train a new group instead of utilizing the already-prepared team. “Government is a continuous process. I expected the incoming administration to make use of the trained personnel rather than spend additional public funds preparing a new group for the same task,” he said.
Recently, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources recruited about 450 new personnel, known as Blue Water Guards, to assist the Ghana Navy in protecting major rivers from illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey. These recruits underwent a three-phase training program, which included theoretical, physical, and practical components.
However, Mr. Duker believes this initiative was unnecessary, arguing that the original batch of 600 fully trained Water Guards remains unused and idle.
