The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor has announced that the government has procured five patrol boats as part of the fight against illegal small scale mining (galamsey).
He stated at a press conference in Accra on Thursday July 21 that the boats will patrol the Ankobra, Pra and Birim rivers.
“I wish to announce that the government has procured 5 patrol boats to patrol and protect our rivers,” she said.
The government has been dealing with the activities of the illegal small miners who are destroying the water bodies and the environment in general.
Some galamseyers were recently arrested on a concession belonging to AngloGold Ashanti and allegedly tortured by being made to swim in mud.
A Mining consultant, recently said fourteen (14) regions devastated by illegal mining activities.
“Ghana is dominated by two main mining sectors, including the Large-Scale Mining (LSM) and Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM). The operations involved in the ASM sector include (i) Legal or Licensed Small-Scale Mining (ii) Illegal or Unregulated Mining, popularly known in the local parlance as ‘Galamsey’ and (iii) Newly Established Community Mining. The only two regions without ASM operations are Greater Accra and Volta.
“Unfortunately, all the three categories of ASM activities lead to uncontrolled land degradations and water pollutions. Although a number of research works have been completed and published, none of them have detailed the number of regions affected by ASM operations,” Mr Solomon Owusu said.
By Laud Nartey|editors.3news.com|Ghana
