Some residents of Aboso in the Prestea Huni-Valley District of the Western Region have expressed worry over the escalating illegal mining activities, also called ‘galamsey’ operations, in the mining community.
They asserted that galamsey operators were degrading farmlands and destroying water bodies.
To this end, they pointed out that if galamsey is not well regulated in the community, the consequences could be disastrous.
“Some serious actions need to be put in place to quickly contain the threat this haphazard way of mining poses as we struggle to develop our area,” the residents indicated.
This came to light when DAILY GUIDE visited the mining community on Wednesday to interact with some of the residents who had described the unauthorised small scale mining as the bane to development in the area.
Matilda Hanson, an opinion leader in the area who spoke to DAILY GIUIDE, indicated that she was aware government over the years implemented a number of measures to encourage small-scale miners to operate in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner.
She indicated that one of the main objectives of the laws governing gold mining was the regulation of the industry in such a way that the miners, particularly, the small-scale ones could operate in an efficient environmentally friendly manner.
Madam Hanson pointed out that the galamsey activities were retarding the development of the district, and appealed to traditional authorities and landowners to avoid giving out lands for such illegal activities.
She mentioned that the troubling aspect of the galamsey activities was the environmental degradation and alleged child labour related to such illegal activities because most pupils abandon the classroom for such activities.
‘Galamseyors’ Speak
Some of the illegal miners who initially declined to speak to DAILY GUIDE and prevented this reporter from taking photographs of them, later agreed to grant the paper an interview.
The illegal miners who pleaded anonymity indicated that most of them were not natives of the area but had travelled from mostly the Northern Region of Ghana to engage in the illegal mining activities because there were no jobs for them in their native region.
They also asserted that some of them were employed by some big men, including politicians and traditional leaders, who owned the land on which the galamsey operation take place.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Aboso