Multimedia Group’s Erastus Asare Donkor highlights illegal mining in Ghana on VoA’s Straight to Talk Africa (video)

An investigative journalist for the Multimedia Group, Erastus Asare Donkor, appeared on VoA’s Straight to Talk Africa show to discuss his documentary ‘Destruction for Gold’ which sheds light on illegal mining, also known as Galamsey, in Ghana.

The edition of Straight Talk Africa focused on journalists who are making a difference by reporting on environmental crises in Africa.

During the interview, Erastus highlighted the complexity of the issue, stating that those most affected by environmental problems, such as illegal mining, often rely on such activities for their livelihoods.

This conflict of interest makes it challenging to generate public interest in environmental stories, especially those related to illegal mining.

“Many of them are reacting to illegal mining, so there is a conflict of interest to organize a demonstration and therefore people will not show much interest in environmental stories, especially illegal mining.”

He also discussed the difficulty of obtaining financing for documentaries on such topics, noting that while his company, the Multimedia Group, supported him, economic constraints made it challenging to produce the documentaries.

Furthermore, many potential sponsors in Ghana are reluctant to participate due to political sensitivities surrounding the issue.

“It is difficult to get money to make these documentaries and my company, the Multimedia Group, has supported me, but the economic crisis has started and we had to write proposals, but in Ghana many companies have rejected us because they are not politically active want to be. associated with it,” he said.

Speaking further, Erastus further highlighted the risks associated with investigating illegal mining, as journalists often encounter armed individuals in the field.

Despite these challenges, he stressed the importance of drawing attention to this issue, especially given the serious environmental damage caused by illegal mining.

The investigative journalist explained that illegal miners often circumvent regulatory processes, such as obtaining permits from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and ignore buffer zone policies, leading to widespread pollution of rivers and streams.

Pollution levels are so high that they exceed safe drinking water standards, impacting farmers who rely on these water sources for irrigation.

“Almost all major rivers and streams are highly polluted and according to the Ghana Water Resources Commission data, we are seeing turbidity rising from 500 NTU to 8000 NTU at the Ankobra River and the accepted level is 5 NTU for drinking water, so you can imagine,” he says. said.

Erastus acknowledged the fears that some journalists have about reporting on illegal mining, but emphasized the importance of public interest in motivating journalists to tackle such challenging topics.

Watch the video below:

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