Some galamsey operators residing at Prestea in the Western Region, who despite the ban on small-scale mining defied the order and choose to mine, received the shock of their lives when anti-galamsey taskforce, "Operation Vanguard" besieged the mining site and set it ablaze.
According to information gathered by Atinka TV after the incident, more the 200 galamsey operators were in the pit when the area was set abkaze by the anti-galamsey taskforce.
The incident happened at Egyanfra, a suburb at Prestea in the Western Region last Wednesday around 11: 30 in the morning.
Anti-galamsey Taskforce known as Operation Vanguard is a joint military police taskforce set up by the President to stop galamsey activities in the country due to the dangers it poses to environment and water bodies.
The New Patriotic Party(NPP) government placed the ban on the activities of small-scale mining in January 2017 following the widespread devastation of water resources and forest reserves.
The ban was, however, extended in October, 2017 for another three months which ended in January 2018.
Public education and awareness creation have also been intensified, while engagement with stakeholders such as the Regional House of Chiefs, Regional Coordinating Council, Ministry of Local Government, Religious Leaders, National Security, Small Scale Miners, and the National Youth Council, among other relevant institutions have been held to seek advice on drawing sustainable roadmap for mining.
In furtherance to that, about 60 ad-hoc District Committees on Illegal Mining(DCIM) were formed across the country to support the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining(IMCM), Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), Mineral Commission, Water Commission, and the Forestry Commission to fight galamsey at the district level.
Ghana | Atinkaonline.com |Matthew Dadzie