REGSEC vows to halt galamsey impunity

Less than a month after the task force on illegal mining (Operation Hot) relaxed its crackdown on operators, thousands of galamseyers are gradually returning to various sites in the Western Region.

As a result the Western Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has directed immediate reclamation and covering of pits to halt the impunity of galamsey operators who are polluting water bodies and degrading the environment.

REGSEC also deplored the Electricity Company of Ghana extension of power from the national grid to these illegal sites.

Information gathered by the Daily Graphic from various communities where the illegal activities were taking place indicated that after the withdrawal of the task force, some of the operators still go to the bush in the night to operate, while others serve as watchmen to monitor the activities of the security operators. Visit our galleries for more photos of the tour.

The operators told the Daily Graphic that the land was given to them by the chiefs in the communities and that they did not see the reason why they should be driven off.

At Sekyere Haiman, Wassa, and Nkroful areas some of the operators move deep into the bush to carry out the activities in the new locations close to the old sites.

However, what is conspicuously missing is the presence of the foreign nationals either prospecting or doing active galamsey. The Ghanaian nationals are those seriously resuming seriously.

In the Ellembelle District, part of the concession of the Adamus Resources has been invaded by galamsey operators at Nkroful, where several thousands of hectors of land have been reduced to desert.

The river that passed through the concession has been diverted.

The Nkroful site, according to Opayin Mahama, a middle aged man and a galamsey operator said he owned the land and so should be allowed to carry out the mining and that he had the blessing of the chief and elders of Nkroful.

He said the total number of people operating there before the task force came to evict them was about 6,000, excluding women and other service providers.

At the site, the operators said that the ECG has extended its services to the area and supply them with a standby transformer.

Western Regional Minister, Mr E.K.T. Addo deplored the impunity with which the environment was being degraded.

He said the REGSEC report indicated that some operators were still at the sites and causing havoc to the environment and that the REGSEC was not going to sit in its office and remote manage the situation hence the team moved to the sites to ascertain the truth.


Picture & Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu, Nkroful

Graphic.com.gh/Ghana