Some of the illegal mining equipment on fire
THE DISTRICT Chief Executive for Akyemansa Assembly in the Eastern Region, Paul Asamoah, on Tuesday, led a joint Security Taskforce to raid some illegal mining sites in areas under his jurisdiction.
The DCE, who is the Chairman of DISEC, and the District Police Commander, Superintendent George Bawa, after embarking on the operations at the mining sites, arrested and burnt twenty (20) chanfang machines and other equipment used by the galamseyers on the Pra River in one community called Amantia.
The illegal miners were said to have bolted when they had a tip-off that the Anti Galamsey Taskforce was coming to the site.
The DCE, after the operation, explained that his outfit has tried several means to halt the activities of illegal miners on the Pra River in the district where they shared a boundary with the Ashanti Region, but the illegal miners defied his directives.
According to him, to save the situation and to stop the destruction of the water bodies, he led the team to seize the equipment and burned them.
He said he gathered that the ‘Okada’ riders served as informants to the illegal miners so anytime the District Anti-Galamsey Taskforce decided to embark on operations in the galamsey sites, they quickly sped off to inform them, adding that by the time the taskforce team gets to the mining sites, the illegal miners had fled.
He also revealed that some landlords in the communities around the Pra River rented their houses to the illegal miners, most of whom were foreigners from neighboring countries.
He, therefore, sounded a warning to the landlords to stop renting their homes to the illegal miners.
BY Daniel Bampoe