Dominic Nitiwul
The Minister of Defense, Dominic Nitiwul, has revealed some 28 excavators used in illegal mining activities popularly known as Galamsey have been destroyed.
According to him, some 218 chanfangs have also been destroyed by personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) working under Operation Halt II.
He made this known in an interaction with the media at the Information Ministry in Accra on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.
According to him, some two pump action guns, 21 new pumping machines were also seized.
He noted that five canons, eight industrial batteries and 18 water drilling machines were destroyed as well.
In all, he disclosed that over a period of six days, the military personnel destroyed a total of 476 chanfangs.
The Ghana Armed Forces commended its second phase of Operation Halt II a few days ago:
The new phase focused on the tributaries of the Pra River.
According to the Minister, the rivers have been greatly destroyed by activities of illegal mining.
It’s clear that “people are not listening; they don’t care,” he bemoaned.
The Minister warned that if care was not taken, Ghana could face water crisis over the next five years.
He lamented that the health of children in the illegal mining areas was being impacted adversely.
“They (illegal miners) are causing damage to the kidneys of young people in those areas,” he said.
By Melvin Tarlue