By: Nicholas Osei-Wusu
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, has assured Ghanaians that he will lead the national fight against illegal gold mining activities commonly known as ‘galamsey’ with integrity and determination.
He has assured Ghanaians that his ministry will do all within their means to win the crusade and thus called for the support and cooperation of all toward achieving that set objective.
Mr. Abu Jinapor made the call in the Ashanti region when he led a delegation of government to tour ‘galamsey’ site at Manso Datano in the Amansie South district.
Even though the Amansie geographical enclave which recently gave birth to the new district is noted for gold mining, both licensed and illegal, Datano, one of the major towns in the new administrative district, was not publicly noted for illegal mining operations. However, surveillance and reconnaissance revealed that the problem was rather pervasive in the area.
This is what caused the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to commission the military to intervene in stopping the activities.
An operation was thus carried out last Monday to rid the site of the operators.
The General Officer Commanding the Central Command of the Ghana Armed Forces, Brigadier General Joseph Aphour, briefing the government’s delegation about the operation so far, disclosed that 13 excavators have been impounded with some sent to the custody of the local Police Station.
“We’ve burnt about two or three, those that we couldn’t move. Arrest, most of the time you don’t even get them. By the time you come, the information is gone. As for the Chinese, we haven’t had one. They’re so witty and critical that you don’t even get them”, the GAF Commanding Officer asserted.
The delegation was led by the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, his two deputies, Mr. George Mireku-Duker who is in charge of Mining and Mr. Benito Owusu Bioh, in charge of Forestry. Also on the delegation was the Deputy Minister for Information, Madam Fatimatu Abubakar and conducted around by officials of the Central Command of the Ghana Armed Forces and 4th Infantry Battalion of the mining site.
The delegation was there to ascertain the extent of the environmental damage caused by the miners and also to assure the military of the government’s support and commitment to the ‘galamsey’ fight.
The minister was shocked about the level of devastation caused to water bodies and forest and the fact that the site appears to be the epicenter of all ‘galamsey’ activities in, at least, the Ashanti region.
It was obvious that the ‘galamsey’ operation in the area had been going on for some years now without any state intervention to stop it.
From clear pointers found at the site including a mini poultry farm and chain of functioning gold extracting machines, it was very clear that the mining site is still full of activity.
Another surprise to the delegation was that the illegal miners appeared to be mining deeper than the known illegal small scale gold mining activities Ghanaians are used to.
The evidence for this is the deep pit at the site. The General Officer Commanding the Central Command of the Ghana Armed Forces told the Minister that if allowed, the military will sustain the operation to ensure no one returns to continue with the illegalities there.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Abdulai Jinapor, assured of leading the government’s fight against illegal mining activities with integrity and commitment.
“We will continue relentlessly with integrity. We will do our best to come to grips with this matter of illegal mining operations in the country. The Ghanaian people should be rest assured that whatever we have to do to get to a satisfactory situation will be done”, the Minister assured.
