River Pra, which has come to represent the epicentre of illegal mining, otherwise called galamsey, has been cleared of the miscreants by the soldiers deployed to the water body.
In a documentary released by the Directorate of Public Relations of the Ghana Armed Forces, the military operation was showed unambiguously.
A platoon commander of the Second Battalion of Infantry, 2/Lt AbuduSalifuwas seen spelling out the objective of the mission which, as he put it, was to clear the water body of illegal mining.
The platoon commander and his men crossed obstacles to reach the principal paraphernalia of galamsey called Changfang, which they duly destroyed.
Like all military operations, this mission had a code, ‘Operation Halt II’, whose orders was to stop illegal mining on River Pra.
“My name is 2/Lt AbuduSalifu the platoon commander for this operation. We have seen one of the machines used in the illegal mining and we have to cross obstacles in order to reach the machine,”2/Lt AbuduSalifurevealed in the documentary.
Lt Col AY Owusu, Commanding Officer 64 Infantry Regiment, who spoke in the documentary, captured the spirit of the operation when he said, “So far we have gotten a few Changfangs moving through difficult terrain. It is a simple oneand we expect to achieve the desired aim and send the right signals to those faceless persons who are trying to cause havoc to our very existence.”
Another officer, Lt Col AbassAchuluk, Commanding Officer of 2 Bn,Takoradistated, “I am Lt Col AbassAchuluk. Our mission here has been to clear all illegal activities on and along the river bank. We have been able to clear all platforms, I mean floating platforms,the Changfangsall along the river from Daboase to TwifoPraso. It is our hope those who have been cleared would not return again and they would heed the national cry and would not return to ensure that generations to come will have good water to drink and fish to eat.”
At the end of the operation, the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS),Vice Admiral Seth Amoama visited the troops to deliver his message of, as he put it, ‘Mission Accomplishment.’
“This afternoon I came to visit the troops to deliver a special message of mission accomplishment for their work. I am highly satisfied with what youhave been able to achieve for the past three days having cleared the River Pra all the way from the estuary to up to TwifoPraso. The Ghana Armed Forces is ever ready to defend the territorial integrity of the nation,”Vice Admiral Amoama said.
He commended them for what he said was the high standard of professionalism.
There was no shortage of the morale boosting songs from the troops, which they used to welcome the CDS.
By A.R. Gomda