The activities of illegal mining (galamsey) have had negative impacts on the various communities where these miners operate.
Not long ago, Sendu; a small village of Nzema Aiyinasi in the Ellembelle District of Ghana became the newest point for illegal miners. The said activity has since led to the contamination of its valuable river; Fia.
Measures and necessary actions have been put in place to fight against these illegal miners and their operations. But the expected results aren’t met as it is alleged that they are being backed by the local chief and authorities within the district.
Today, three Chinese nationals and their Ghanaian counterparts have been arrested for carrying equipment believed to have connections with the illegal mining. They got arrested on the Aiyinasi – Nyamebekyere road this morning.
Investigations conducted reveal that these Chinese nationals together with some local people who are championing Galamsey activities in the town (Sendu) have been mining in the area for the past six months destroying their lands and water bodies.
At the scene, the assembly member for Aiyinasi Central, Hon. Justice Kojo Boah asserted that several complaints made to the police and local authorities to act have proven unsuccessful.
This has pushed them to take action to fight against galamsey operations in the community. Speaking to Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson on Connect FM’s Omanbapa Morning Show, Hon Justice said,
“For the past six months, these Chinese illegal miners have been in our area destroying our rivers and forests. We have reported them to the police on several occasions but nobody is acting, authorities in the district are aware of the situation but they don’t want to do anything about it so we decided to go to their site and arrest them,” he indicated.
The suspected ‘galamseyers’ have been handed over to the Aiyinasi Police Station for further investigation.
“We have taken them to the police station. Some residents have told us they will be released in no time but we want to wait and see what will happen. We have also seized their equipment as evidence so we believe the police will process them for court.
“They have been leaving open pits in our communities after their illegal mining. Just recently, one young boy died in one of the abandoned pits and we cannot wait for more to follow. We shall continue to arrest them until our community is free from illegal miners,” he added.