{"id":8116,"date":"2024-09-12T10:14:45","date_gmt":"2024-09-12T10:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=8116"},"modified":"2024-09-12T10:14:52","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T10:14:52","slug":"this-is-the-time-for-righteous-anger-bishops-conference-call-for-urgent-action-against-galamsey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/?p=8116","title":{"rendered":"This is the time for righteous anger \u2013 Bishops\u2019 Conference call for urgent action against galamsey."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ghana Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference has issued a passionate call for government to declare a state of emergency to tackle the severe impact of illegal mining, known locally as &#8220;galamsey,&#8221; on the country\u2019s water bodies and natural resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rev. Fr. Michael K. A. Quaicoe, Director for Governance, Justice, and Peace for the Conference, made the appeal during an interview on Joy News\u2019&nbsp;<em>PM Express<\/em>&nbsp;on Wednesday, September 11, stressing that the time for mere words has passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is the time for righteous anger,\u201d Rev. Fr. Quaicoe asserted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have watched for too long as our water bodies and natural resources are destroyed, and diseases spread due to the sheer greed and indifference of a few. We must stand up and act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Bishops&#8217; Conference has been a vocal opponent of illegal mining, which they describe as a crime against Ghana&#8217;s ecosystem and its people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rev. Fr. Quaicoe emphasized that the recent communiqu\u00e9 released by the bishops is not just a statement but a call to action that will be communicated down to parishes and local communities, where concrete actions will be taken to protect the environment from further destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are beyond speaking; we are galvanizing our base,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"ose-youtube ose-uid-b6b89945b7ee93f55fdf19416e706ffb ose-embedpress-responsive\" style=\"width:400px; height:400px; max-height:400px; max-width:100%; display:inline-block;\" data-embed-type=\"Youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowFullScreen=\"true\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BIsz7BjiamQ?feature=oembed&color=red&rel=0&controls=1&start=&end=&fs=0&iv_load_policy=0&autoplay=0&mute=0&modestbranding=0&cc_load_policy=1&playsinline=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; encrypted-media;accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;gyroscope;picture-in-picture clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen referrerpolicy=\"origin\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTogether with bodies like the Coalition Against Galamsey, we will push for serious action and put pressure on those who have the power to make the necessary decisions immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The call for action comes on the heels of a press conference where the Federation and other civil society organizations and unions gave the government an 18-day ultimatum to address the menace of illegal mining or face a withdrawal of services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rev. Fr. Quaicoe reiterated that if the President does not declare a state of emergency, ban all forms of mining on water bodies and in forest reserves, and deploy security forces to seize and destroy mining equipment, there would be widespread protests involving organised labour and other sectors of society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe will not stop. We will make our voices heard, and we will mobilize across all sectors to demand action,\u201d Rev. Fr. Quaicoe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe believe in lawful and sensible measures, but we are not going to stop until this issue is addressed. This thing has to stop, and it has to stop now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Ghana Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference, alongside other civil society groups, plans to continue raising awareness and rallying public support to protect the country&#8217;s environment, urging the government to act decisively against illegal mining operations that threaten the nation\u2019s water bodies, forests, and the health of its people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ghana Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference has issued a passionate call for government to declare a state of emergency to tackle the severe impact of illegal mining, known locally as &#8220;galamsey,&#8221; on the country\u2019s water bodies and natural resources. Rev. Fr. Michael K. A. Quaicoe, Director for Governance, Justice, and Peace for the Conference, made the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1949,2254],"class_list":["post-8116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","tag-galamsay","tag-illegal-minning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8118,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8116\/revisions\/8118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}